Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have calculated, or estimated on a daily or weekly basis, the numbers of United Nations and non-government aid workers, both local and expatriate, who have been killed in Gaza during the past month during their routine humanitarian work.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We recognise the difficulty for organisations like the UN to accurately verify numbers. We are aware that there have been significant casualties, including humanitarian workers. The UK position is clear: all sides must abide by their international obligations; all sides must respect International Humanitarian Law and all side must respect civilians. Both the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have, in their discussions with their Israeli counterparts, emphasised the importance of taking all possible measures to protect civilians.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the consequences of the civil war in Sudan for South Sudan, specifically the effect of tens of thousands of refugees arriving in Abyei; and what has been the humanitarian response of the UK to date, and through which channels.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The conflict in Sudan has exacerbated an already dire humanitarian situation in South Sudan, including in the Abeyi Administrative Area. On 24 May 2023, FCDO's Minister for Development and Africa announced £19 million in humanitarian aid for South Sudan this financial year. This is supporting those already in need in South Sudan, and refugees and returnees fleeing from the violence in Sudan. On 20 September, FCDO's Minister for Development and Africa met South Sudanese President Salva Kiir to discuss progress on implementation of South Sudan's Peace Agreement. They also discussed efforts to secure peace in Sudan and our response to the growing humanitarian crisis.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to support or promote the church's peace and reconciliation efforts in South Sudan following the ecumenical visit with Pope Francis in February.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK endorses the messages of the Pope, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Moderator of the Church of Scotland during their historic visit to Juba in February 2023. The Government of South Sudan (GoSS) must stop violence, end corruption, and deliver justice and services for their people. The Minister of State for Development and Africa [Andrew Mitchell] met with the Archbishop of Canterbury in April 2023 to discuss the Church's role in promoting peace and tackling poverty in South Sudan. On Friday 22 September, I met with the Archbishop of Canterbury, alongside the Troika and guarantors of South Sudan's Peace Agreement. Despite a lack of political will from the GoSS, international and regional efforts for peace must be sustained - corruption needs to be tackled and civil society must be empowered.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to support civic education programmes delivered through non-governmental organisations and churches in South Sudan in the lead up to the 2024 elections in South Sudan.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK supports free and fair elections as a critical component of South Sudan's 2018 Peace Agreement. We regularly engage with the Government of South Sudan on the importance of political and civic space, as well as media freedom, to ensure that the voices of the South Sudanese people are consistently heard, including those who hold opposing views. Previously, the UK has supported local civil society organisation Community Empowerment for Progress Organisation (CEPO) to monitor ceasefire violations at the local level, as well as the Association for Media and Development in South Sudan (AMDISS) and Female Journalists Network (FJN) to strengthen media freedom, counter misinformation and promote the inclusion of women in the provision of accurate and reliable journalism.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what role, as a member of the Troika, the UK retains in any international or regional efforts to end the civil war in Sudan; and what initiatives the UK has been involved in this regard.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We are working alongside Troika and other international partners to end the violence in Sudan, allow unfettered humanitarian access and commit to a sustained and meaningful peace process. The UK issued a joint statement with its Troika partners on 29 May, reaffirming our support for the African Union's roadmap for the resolution of the Sudan conflict. On 4 August, the UK and its Troika partners released a further statement, condemning recent reports of killing based on ethnicity and widespread sexual violence in Darfur by the Rapid Support Forces and allied militias. We continue to engage in other formats and at the United Nations General Assembly in September, UK Ministers and senior officials participated in four meetings with different groupings of partners to tackle the situation in Sudan.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many times the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei in Sudan has intervened in recent conflict in Abyei; whether there is any obstacle to increasing the size of this force; and what is the UK’s contribution to the force.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK Government commends the efforts of the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) to help maintain peace and security in Abyei under challenging circumstances. In March 2023, the UK Government sent a joint political delegation from British Embassy Juba and British Embassy Khartoum to Abyei to engage UNISFA's leadership following the transition to a multinational force and commend its efforts to tackle the security situation. We are aware of the increased presence in southern Abyei of the South Sudan People's Defence Forces and National Police, in violation of the 2011 peace agreement. The presence of forces is exacerbating tensions and hindering peace. We call upon the government of South Sudan to withdraw its forces without delay.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) reports that malnutrition is increasing in parts of South Sudan, and (2) the extent to which this is the result of returnees and others fleeing the war in the North; and what steps they intend to take in this regard.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The influx of refugees and returnees from Sudan is putting additional pressure on already scarce food resources in South Sudan. The UK Government have provided £2.25 million to meet the urgent needs of refugees and returnees in South Sudan who have fled the violence in Sudan - £1.5 million of this has been allocated to the World Food Programme for food provision in border areas. On 20 September, Minister Mitchell met South Sudanese President Salva Kiir to discuss efforts to secure peace in Sudan, implementation of South Sudan's Peace Agreement and the need for greater humanitarian assistance.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are promoting UK expertise in conflict prevention and reconciliation in Africa through academic study and training in the UK; and if so, how.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office funds two international scholarship schemes - Chevening and Commonwealth. Chevening offers scholarships to applicants from over 160 Official Development Assistance (ODA) eligible countries and territories to study for Masters degrees in any subject at any British University. Commonwealth scholarships are offered for post-graduate studies in development focussed subjects. Chevening and Commonwealth Scholarships both promote UK expertise by allowing scholars to undertake post-graduate studies in conflict prevention and reconciliation related areas. Through these two schemes, the FCDO currently funds scholarships for 15 Chevening and 14 Commonwealth scholars from African countries studying for post-graduate degrees in conflict prevention, peacebuilding and reconciliation related courses in the UK, with an additional 37 African Commonwealth scholars studying long distance in their home countries through UK universities.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are providing to African universities and institutions specialising in conflict, in particular in (1) Sudan, (2) South Sudan, (3) Eritrea, and (4) Ethiopia.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Currently we do not provide support to universities in any of the specified countries. Through our recent Strategic Partnership for Higher Education, Innovation and Reform (SPHEIR) programme we have provided support to universities in Somaliland, Kenya, Egypt, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Sierra Leone and provided conflict support to universities in Jordan and Lebanon supporting Syrian refugees. This programme ran from 2016-2022 and focussed on transforming the quality, relevance, scale, access and affordability of higher education systems through mutually beneficial partnerships. A successor programme is currently being developed which will be accepting/encouraging bids from Ethiopia and South Sudan.
Asked by: Earl of Sandwich (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case of Joana Mamombe MP and other political activists recently detained in Zimbabwe; whether they have made representations to the government of that country in respect of those detentions in the context of the forthcoming elections in Zimbabwe; and what plans they have to press for an increase in the number of international observers of those elections.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK has observed a trend of lengthy pre-trial detention of government critics in Zimbabwe. The Minister for Development and Africa raised this issue with Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa when they met in the margins of His Majesty the King's Coronation. As I, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, stated in the House last week, 'we have raised our concerns with the Government [of Zimbabwe] and have publicly called for full investigation into the allegations', of abduction and abuse of opposition members Joana Mamombe MP, Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova. The UK welcomes Zimbabwe's announcement that invitations have been sent to a broad range of international observer missions for elections on 23 August.