Donor countries and organizations meeting in Norway on Wednesday pledged about US$4.8 billion (¤3.1 billion) in aid to Sudan through 2011, according to preliminary figures presented by a World Bank official, according to AP. «I'm very happy. The reconfirmation of the donor countries' commitments to Sudan shows that this was very successful,» Hartwig Schafer, director of strategy at the World Bank, said as the donors conference ended in Oslo. Many of the roughly 200 delegates at the meeting had expressed high hopes of matching the US$4.5 billion (¤3.1 million) pledged over four years at the first donors' meeting held in Oslo in 2005. When the meeting opened Tuesday, Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha called for increased support to help Africa's largest nation recover from 21 years of war, which has cost 2 million lives. Host Norway immediately pledged US$500 million (¤345 million) between 2008-2011. The European Union promised US$435 million (¤300 million) for the same period. On Wednesday, Japan and Germany promised to double their aid contributions, to US$200 million (¤130 million) and US$29 million (¤20 million), respectively. «We doubled our contribution because of the importance of Sudan,» Yasuhide Nakayama, the leader of the Japanese delegation, told The Associated Press. «Its size and its geographical importance, as well as its influence on neighboring countries, mean we really need to do something.» Gabriele Geier, the leader of the German delegation, likened aid to Sudan to the Marshall Plan that helped rebuild her own country after World War II.
