(OSLO) - An international donor conference for Sudan concluded in Oslo on Wednesday with pledges of 4.8 billion dollars (3.1 billion euros) for humanitarian and reconstruction aid in the war-ravaged country.

"The pledges ... stand at 4.8 billion dollars," World Bank director of Strategies and Operations Hartwig Schafer said as the conference wrapped up.

In a report published ahead of the conference, the Sudanese government and the regional government of semi-autonomous South Sudan said they needed around 6.1 billion dollars of international aid through 2011.

The time frame and how the donated funds would be split between humanitarian, reconstruction and developmental aid efforts remained unclear.

The three-day meeting, gathering representatives from 30 countries and international organisations, sought to determine what progress has been made since the signing of a January 2005 peace accord between Sudan's government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM).

The 2005 peace accord ended a devastating civil war in Sudan's largely animist and Christian southern region, which raged over 21 years killing 1.5 million people.

"The pledging commitments that have been made so far really deserve (our) whole-hearted appreciation and applause," said Ali Osman Taha, the vice president of the National Unity government in Khartoum.

"You have proven that you are real friends," he added.

When announcing their pledges, many donors stressed the importance of pushing forward with the practical implementation of the peace accord as well as making progress to resolve the conflict in the western Sudanese region of Darfur, ravaged by a separate civil war.

Donations this time around surpassed the pledges made at an initial donor conference for Sudan held in Oslo in April 2005 when 4.5 billion dollars over a three-year period were raised.

"Even one dollar is immense and quite appreciated" by the people, said Luka Biong Deng, the South Sudan minister of presidential affairs.

In addition to funding the disarming of fighters and their reintegration into civilian life, the pledged money would go towards improving infrastructure, education and basic healthcare, he said.

It would also help improve access to water, sanitation and would boost agriculture, he added.

"These are the things that will make peace meaningful to the people of war-affected areas," he told AFP.

The Oslo conference came half-way through the 2005-2011 transition period outlined in the 2005 peace accord. Sudan is then to hold a referendum on whether southern Sudan can secede.

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