Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will discuss food security, health and nutrition in South Sudan with the government of that country.

South Sudan’s leaders need to take ultimate responsibility for the humanitarian situation, and the UK continues to urge the government and opposition to act now to stop the fighting and start to build a lasting peace and make every effort to allow aid to quickly reach their people.

In the meantime, the need for life-saving humanitarian assistance and delivery of basic services remains critical. During my visit to South Sudan in September this year, I raised the issue of food security in discussions with Government. The UK engages with the relevant ministers, ministries and sector working groups and through the Government Partner Forum. DFID-funded health programmes work in close collaboration with government, and DFID support has been instrumental in pioneering a government-led health sector plan and in strengthening government health systems. A DFID-funded programme in 3 northern states of South Sudan, which works alongside government, is expected to enable 175,000 to become food secure by the end of 2014. The UK, with other donors and UN agencies, is working with the Ministry of Agriculture to agree the content and conditions necessary for signing of the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Process Compact. This will support food security through a 10% allocation of the national budget to the agricultural sector.