Poverty Reduction and Socio-Economic Development 95. Poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon, an indication of deprivation in one or more facets of the well-being of a person. It goes beyond inadequate food or income, and extends to an individual’s access to basic nutrition, health, education and skills, good housing conditions, clean water, social participation and political or religious freedom, which define his welfare. Pronounced shortage or deprivation in each of these areas is a facet of poverty and their sum symbolizes the broad concept of human development. Poverty in Sudan is conceptualized in this broad sense of income poverty and human poverty. 96. In order to alleviate the challenges and reduce poverty, painful, unpopular but necessary fiscal and external balance adjustments will have to be made to sustain the macro-economic stability essential for reviving and sustaining growth. Conflicts, Internally Displaced Persons and Refugees 97. Conflict in Sudan derives from the heterogeneity of its population and the difficulties of managing the competing claims of the different peoples, who have unequal access to power, privilege and natural resources. A critical examination of the nature and causes of conflict in Sudan shows that they need not be so frequently violent and damaging to the fabric of society, if properly addressed. 98. The geography of conflict in Sudan also shows that competition for scarce natural resources such as water and grazing land has been a major source of conflict. Cohabitation of the same space by farmers and herdsmen predisposes to conflict because cattle graze on farms and destroy crops, thus depriving farmers of potential harvests. Global warming has also contributed to the land crisis and aggravated competition for land for farming and grazing by farmers and herdsmen. Proliferation of small arms and light weapons in conflict areas has also aggravated the problem. 99. IDPs and refugees experience human rights challenges, including their economic, social, political and cultural rights. Some camps lack basic needs like adequate shelter, water, healthcare, sanitation, and education for children. 100. However, the Government has tackled the challenges faced by IDPs and refugees as a result of these conflicts through various ways such as the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD), aimed at pacifying the Darfur region. Economic Sanctions 101. On November 3, 1997, the US President issued an Executive Order that imposed a comprehensive trade embargo on Sudan and blocked the assets of the Government for alleged human rights violations among other issues. 102. These sanctions effectively dictated Sudan’s trade patters with the rest of the world. For example, while trade with Western countries has been hampered by the avoidance of banks to facilitate transactions with Sudan, more of the country’s export trade was diverted increasingly to Arab States and the greater Asia 103. The sanctions also severely affected the poorest segment of the population particularly, thereby further widening the inequality in Sudanese society. Poverty incidence increased mostly in areas that needed assistance, which was either delayed or not forthcoming because of the sanctions. Since imposition of sanctions on Sudan has led to a systemic impoverishment of the citizens, thereby increasing hardship on a vast majority of the people, the AU and member-States should prioritize the total removal of the sanctions as a major objective. 15