Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that the UK Government financial support in South Sudan for civil society participants in the High-Level Revitalisation Forum continues during the third round of negotiations.

The UK welcomes the involvement of representatives from South Sudanese civil society in the first and second rounds of the High Level Revitalisation Forum. Civil society organisations have an important role to play in South Sudan by holding the Government and others to account.

We will continue to support civil society peacebuilding initiatives. This includes continuing to provide funding to the South Sudanese Council of Churches, enabling the Council to lead mediation and reconciliation efforts between national-level leaders who have the power to stop the ongoing conflict in South Sudan.