Background

The Council of Ministers of the Government of Sudan has initiated and is currently engaged in a national strategic planning process, a significant undertaking since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005. The planning process, which began in November 2006, is led by Sudan’s First Vice President under the overall authority of the President Omer Al Bashir, Chairman of the National Council for Strategic Planning (NCSP). The first five-year National Strategic Planning (NSP) process covers the period 2007 – 2011 with expectations that the plan will be incorporated into the budget planning and allocation process in 2008 and onwards.

The NSP covers the entire country. In its strategic implementation it will encompass Federal Ministries, the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) and all 25 State Governments. The General Secretariat of the NCSP is leading the plan’s development.

The NSP is intended to provide a holistic and long-term planning framework for coordinating Sudan’s peace and development efforts over the period 2007 – 2011. If implemented successfully and effectively, it will contribute to the achievement of Sudan’s twenty-five year goal that will create a united, peaceful and developed Sudan based on the principles of democratic governance - voice of the majority, transparency, accountability, fairness and equitable distribution of wealth, participation, inclusiveness and the rule of law.

The core planning process is national in scope and also participatory engaging the efforts of the different states. The NCSP, the Council of Ministers, the National Assembly and the Council of States have deliberated and approved a plan which provides for a strategic framework based on eight key areas ranging from peace, national sovereignty and reconciliation sustainability to the reduction of poverty and realization of the Millennium Development Goals.

The NSP itself is intended to contain five-year plans outlining activities and priorities at different levels of the government. In principle the NSP will be the rationale platform and linkage to the overall government budget planning and spending both at federal and state levels with more emphasis on the different sectors or ministries ensuring the achievement of long-term goals and sustainability.

This year, UNDP and the UK Department for International Development launched this project to support this crucial planning process

Objectives
The main goal of the NSP project is to assist the NCSP in the implementation phase, by delivering a unified and effective plan that is clearly linked to budget allocation and contributes to maximizing development opportunities and bringing lasting peace to Sudan.
As such, the specific objectives of the Project are to:
• Enhance the capacity for sustainable planning and budgeting of the state governments and federal ministries;
• Develop and implement a strategy for engaging with the planning processes of the GOSS and Southern States in order to develop a truly national and inclusive strategic plan;
• Enhance the utility of the NSP to include budget processes and ensure that planning is better linked to resource availability and budget resource allocations better reflect the plans priorities; and
• Strengthen the evidence base of the planning process to deliver an effective funding process.

Snapshots of the project's major achievements
• Approximately 40 staff from federal ministries and northern states’ government were trained in budgeting, planning and performance monitoring through workshops and coaching by national consultants;
• Delivery of 2008 budget aligned with the National Strategic Plan has been submitted by almost all Federal Ministries and northern states;
• National Strategic Planning documents translated into English, typed, bound and reproduced for dissemination;.
• As a result of an extensive training, all northern states and federal ministries submitted 2007annual monitoring reports and 2008 mid- year reports which were approved by NCSP. The reports were aligned to key result areas and the plans were linked to the budget allocation;
• A strategy was developed for incorporating GOSS plans into the NSP;
• 9 volumes of the GOSS plans from 2008- 2011 were submitted and approved; and
• Through a series of workshops, forums and other public events, the project has succeed in raising awareness of NSP and its key result areas among staff in state government and federal ministries and the general public.