Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 2 January 2025 to Question 18873 on Sudan: Humanitarian Aid, what steps he is taking to ensure the protection of civilians.

On 11 October 2023, the Human Rights Council adopted the UK-led 'Sudan Core Group' resolution to establish an independent and international Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) to ensure the credible allegations of human rights violations and abuses by all sides are investigated impartially. The UK led lobbying for the renewal of the FFM mandate in October, which passed with an increased vote margin and support from two African states. The UK strongly supports the International Criminal Court's active investigation into the situation in Darfur, including allegations of crimes committed since April 2023. This support has included the secondment of expert investigators to support the ICC's work in several countries.

The UK is also funding the Sudan Witness project delivered by the Centre for Information Resilience, which gathers open-source evidence on harms against civilians and civilian infrastructure, with a view to future accountability efforts. As penholder on Sudan at the UN Security Council, the UK co-led a protection of civilians resolution on Sudan with Sierra Leone in November, which was cynically vetoed by Russia. We continue to work with the UN, key regional stakeholders and Council members to ensure the Council continues to act in support of peace in Sudan.