Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of South Sudan to increase the proportion of their national budget allocated to health and education, and to tackle corruption.

The UK remains committed to supporting peace, stability and the humanitarian response in South Sudan. As a leading donor, the UK is providing £72 million of aid to South Sudan this financial year, supporting humanitarian assistance, resilience and livelihoods, peacebuilding, health and education. This funding also supports community-led peace initiatives which strengthen conflict prevention and resolution through our South Sudan Peacebuilding Programme.

We remain ready to respond to emerging risks. This includes a £500,000 contribution to the World Health Organization to strengthen South Sudan's Ebola preparedness through improving surveillance, case detection and emergency response capacity. We continue to call on South Sudan's leadership to invest in its people. Through our co-chairmanship of the South Sudan Public Financial Management Oversight Committee, and work with partners at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, we press for fiscal discipline, transparency and greater investment in essential service.