Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding her Department has provided to assist in developing the courts and judicial system in South Sudan in each of the last three years.

The UK aid funded Access to Justice Programme (2014 – 2016) aimed to increase access to justice for vulnerable South Sudanese, particularly women and girls and those affected by or at risk of violence. The programme spent £1,173,529 in 2015 and £207,967 in 2016. As a result of the escalation of the conflict in South Sudan in July 2016, officials carried out a thorough review of the work and closed the programme in October 2016. Changes in the operating context meant that the programme would no longer be able to deliver the results planned. We maintain close links with those operating in the justice sector in South Sudan and will look to re-engage when appropriate in the future.