(SV)

The  Director of the Sudanese Administration at the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Mohamed  Qasem, affirmed that "80" States were invited to participate in the International Donors Conference for the development and reconstruction of Darfur, which will be held on 21 March in Cairo, co-chaired between Egypt and Turkey and under the umbrella of the OIC.

Qasem said that the conference which held under the slogan "Development for Peace", will be attended by "25" donor countries and members of the organization, along with international organizations such as the United Nations, World Bank, African Union, Arab League and non-governmental organizations such as the Federation of Arab Doctors.

He added that the aim of the conference is to provide two billion dollars for the establishment of projects which will be raised at the conference  that include six fields, namely, housing, urban planning, agriculture, livestock, forestry, cement, roads and agricultural processing, rural development, women development and capacity-building projects in addition to water, health and education.

The Ambassador said that a committee will be formed to follow up, assess and identify projects which will be established over the next three years, through a fund or a bank, in which the proceeds of grants, which will undertake by the States during the conference would be placed and spending it on the said projects.

He pointed out that the conference aims to move from aid to development to encourage the voluntary return of displaced persons to their villages, and make the development attractive element for the said purpose and achieving security and stability in Darfur.

It is to be noted that the idea of the conference came during a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference in Damascus in 2007 and three preparatory committees for the conference were held in Cairo, Khartoum and Jeddah, attended by Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and the Islamic Development Bank.