This interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (I-PRSP) was prepared following the secession of South Sudan in July 2011. It was approved by the Council of Ministers as well as by Parliament on 20 July 2012, respectively. The preparation of this I-PRSP was initiated before the secession of South Sudan. Since then, the governance structures for the new Sudan have remained the same, based on the 2005 Interim National Constitution (INC) that underpinned the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). Until the signature of the CPA, Sudan had experienced an alternation of civilian and military governments and two protracted North-South wars that took a heavy toll on human life and economic resources. The leadership in Sudan has initially been preoccupied with the difficult negotiations of the economic and political relations with South Sudan, but began in June 2012 to deal with the implications of the massive revenue shocks caused by the loss of the share of the revenues from oil production in South Sudan. The Sudanese government’s attention was also captured by internal conflicts and threats of new ones in several areas of the new country; the situation is being aggravated by the urgent resettlement and reintegration of millions of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from past conflicts in the territory and international refugees from conflict-affected neighboring countries. In this complex environment, the authorities are seeking to normalize Sudan’s relations with the international development community, while opening up access to post-conflict recovery and development assistance, including relief from its onerous external burden
