Humanitarian Situation in Sudan Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Edward Morello
Main Page: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)Department Debates - View all Edward Morello's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
(4 days, 13 hours ago)
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Harpreet Uppal
I thank my hon. Friend for making those points. That is an awful situation that the people of Sudan should not have to go through.
The impact on children is particularly brutal. In some famine-affected areas, as many as 29% of children show signs of acute malnutrition. At that level, children risk lifelong complications even if they survive the hunger that they face today.
Edward Morello (West Dorset) (LD)
The hon. Member is right to highlight the 25 million Sudanese people living in food insecurity. As she knows, Sudan is protected from the cuts to overseas development aid, but a further 600,000 Sudanese people live displaced in places such as Chad; those other countries in the region are not protected from the cuts to ODA. Is the Government’s decision to cut ODA seriously impacting our ability to help the Sudanese people?
Harpreet Uppal
I will come on to that issue later, but I am sure the Minister has heard what the hon. Gentleman has said.
Previously, I have also raised in the House and with Ministers the terrible reality that rape and sexual violence are being used as weapons of war. Women and girls bear the brunt of the crisis: over 6.7 million of them are at risk of gender-based violence. Between December 2023 and December 2024, the UN found a 29% increase in the number of people seeking sexual and gender-based violence services. Reports of intimate partner violence, sexual exploitation and abuse, and the specific targeting of ethnic minority groups, are both widespread and on the rise.