Ukraine: Humanitarian Assistance

Baroness Goudie Excerpts

Thursday 12th December 2024 Grand Committee

[Baroness Goudie (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Tyler, very much for having arranged this debate today. It could not come at a more important time in the history of Ukraine, given the pressure on it from Russia and the change in policy in America. The Minister may not be able to do so today, but perhaps he could make a Statement in a few months’ time about how that will affect Ukraine, our relationship and so on.

I speak today to address the critical challenges facing the people of Ukraine as they endure another harsh winter—we think we have harsh winters, but theirs are something else—amid ongoing conflict. Despite their extraordinary resilience, millions of Ukrainians face many crises exacerbated by the unrelenting attacks on essential infrastructure. It is absolutely awful knowing that their hospitals, children’s homes, buses, police cars and so on are being attacked.

Last winter revealed the vulnerabilities of Ukraine’s energy and housing system, leaving millions without heating, electricity or clean water. We know that without clean water it is impossible to cook vegetables or to look after children, and what diseases dirty water brings. The attacks on infrastructure have disrupted basic services, with 85% of Ukraine’s energy production capacity destroyed and rolling blackouts implemented to save energy. It must be very difficult not knowing when those blackouts are going to come. Over 1.4 million homes have been damaged or destroyed since the escalation of the war: 10% of all homes in the country. These realities underline the necessity for immediate, targeted interventions to repair homes, restore power systems, and deliver essential supplies such as solid fuels and heating appliances.

The UK must align with Ukraine’s efforts to support frontline regions, including providing hospitals and clinics with generators, mobile boilers and repair materials and, if possible, somebody to come and help them who knows how to use the materials. Although those in Ukraine are very capable, as we know from those who work here, it would be great if we could get some infrastructure from us to help, when it is safe, or from local volunteers or the military. These measures are safeguarding the lives of the most vulnerable population, including older persons, children and those with disabilities.

The psychological toll of the war cannot be overstated. Prolonged exposure to violence, displacement and insecurity has left millions of Ukrainians grappling with mental health challenges. The number of parents reporting mental health problems in 2024 has doubled since a year earlier. We can understand that, as children are now being taught in schools underground. I have seen some films and talked to some people who are working there. It is very difficult because the children are afraid. They are going down to safety for their education, but do not quite know what it will be like when they come back out. This has real difficulties for the children, those who are teaching them and their families. For those who have sought shelter underground for extended periods or witnessed the destruction of their homes, the trauma is profound. To be in darkness indefinitely is not good for anyone’s health, with no air or light.

Today I met an organisation I work quite closely with, Education For Employment, which goes to schools to encourage children about the jobs that are around—not just party planners or nurses. Children know about people’s jobs because of those who come to their house or what their mothers or grannies do. It has been approached by the OECD to come to help with work in the long term, and over video, to show children what their future can be and how it can help them to look to that. It has worked in these sorts of areas before.

The World Health Organization has reported over 2,000 attacks on healthcare facilities, further straining Ukraine’s capacity to address mental and physical health needs. I urge His Majesty’s Government to enhance the support for mental health services, including training for healthcare professionals if that is possible. Perhaps they could come here, or there could be a safe place where they train or have extra training.

The international community, including the United Kingdom, has a moral responsibility to act decisively. Last year, the UN and its partners launched an appeal for $435 million to assist over 1.7 million people through the winter, and we cannot let the Ukrainians down this year. The European Union has committed €40 million for winter preparedness, focusing on water systems, heating infrastructure and emergency repairs. The United Kingdom should complement those efforts, leveraging its resources to close the gaps in humanitarian assistance. I commend the Government’s pledge of over £100 million in additional humanitarian support for 2024-25 and their ongoing support for Ukraine. I urge continued action to provide immediate and meaningful relief.

I also hope that those cases being dealt with by the Home Office will be looked on favourably before anybody is returned, or at least that people are given a period of time, not a day, if they have to go back for some reason or other. Many people do want to go back to Ukraine and rebuild their country once it is safe—many of those I have spoken to do not want to stay here indefinitely—but at present it is very difficult.

The people of Ukraine have shown immense courage in the face of unimaginable adversity. Let us ensure that our support reflects the scale of their need and the depth of our commitment to their future.

Sudan

Baroness Goudie Excerpts

Friday 13th September 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Goudie (Lab)]

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend on his appointment as Minister for Africa and look forward to continuing to work with him. I am pleased that we have decided to appoint a special envoy for Sudan. As the newspapers and periodicals have said, this is the worst catastrophe and civil war in the world at the moment, and it is going on and on. I am also pleased that in the early weeks of this Government the Development Minister was able to visit South Sudan to assess the position in Sudan for herself, and for the Government, and to give further funding.

On 27 August, we marked 500 days of unrelenting conflict in the grave and ongoing crisis in Sudan, as many noble Lords have said. This is not just any conflict. It is marked by the most egregious atrocity crimes—torture, ethnic cleansing, and the cold-blooded murder of innocent civilians, including men, women, and children. These crimes are being committed with shocking impunity. The perpetrators are so confident they will face no consequences that they have brazenly filmed their actions, recording the horrific abuses that they inflict on the Sudanese people. This is a crime in itself.

The warring factions—the Sudanese Armed Forces, SAF, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, RSF, led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti—are well aware that they are fighting a largely forgotten war. They know that the world’s attention is focused elsewhere—on Gaza and Ukraine—and that is why today’s debate is so important. They see that political, parliamentary and international media coverage of the Sudan crisis is hardly anywhere. This creates a perfect environment for them to carry out their terror without fear of accountability. It also raises serious questions about the double standards with which the international community approaches global crises, especially those in Africa.

I must remind the House of the gravity of the situation we are discussing today. Sudan is a country that endured genocide just two decades ago, when 200,000 Darfuri people were systematically exterminated by the al-Bashir regime. The conflict we witness today is deeply rooted in Sudan’s long history of impunity for atrocity crimes committed against marginalised communities. Both the SAF and the RSF are products of the al-Bashir regime, which still has not handed him over to the International Criminal Court to face charges. We must be firmer with the court in terms of speed and the way these cases are being dealt with. This is something we must look at.

This renewed conflict has claimed more than 150,000 lives in less than two years and displaced 20% of the population—both within Sudan and across its borders. This means that 8 million people have been newly displaced inside or outside the country, in addition to the over 3 million already displaced by previous conflicts.

Sudan is currently enduring a humanitarian catastrophe in full view of the world. The UN has declared a famine, but it needs to do much more. The UN should have to be there. There is a famine in Zamzam refugee camp in Sudan’s north Darfur region, where a child dies every two hours—it may be more as the days go on. Some 14 more areas are teetering on the brink of famine, and half the population fears severe hunger. There are reports of people in eastern Darfur IDP camps surviving on leaves. Are we going to stand by and let this unfold?

As if the war were not enough, the Sudanese people are grappling with severe and frequent flooding, which has destroyed homes. What do you do when your home is destroyed and there is no one to help you? Where do you go? This is what is happening. There is flooding of displacement camps—people are just about surviving—further complicating the delivery of aid by destroying key infrastructure. Waterborne diseases such as cholera are on the rise. Yet Médecins Sans Frontières reports that at least 50% of the medical centres have been destroyed by shelling and artillery fire. This is a tragic irony of the worst kind.

As we often see in these cases, women are bearing a disproportionate share of the violence. Women and girls make up more than half the registered refugees in Sudan, with the proportion even higher in some host countries. Beyond the dangers of conflict and displacement, women and girls are subjected to appalling levels of sexual violence in conflict areas and both within and outside Sudan—on the move or in countries of asylum. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed alarm over the reports that Sudanese women and girls are being abducted, chained and held in

“inhuman, degrading slave-like conditions”

in areas controlled by the RSF in Darfur. Is this what we expect, in this day and age, in a war? This is what is happening, and we have to stand up and bring other people to the table to say, “This has to cease”.

I endorse what my noble friend Lady Helic said—I was going to say some of that but will not repeat it—and what my noble friend Lord Ahmad said about women at the peace table. I would like an undertaking from the Minister that we will ensure that local women, as well as others, are at the peace table and all tables in all parts of Sudan.

The OHCHR has said it is

“running out of words to describe the horror of what is happening in Sudan”.

The time for words is over—too many lives have already been lost, and peacekeepers and humanitarians are risking their lives every day to alleviate the suffering. The Government must take a decisive stance, force the warring partners to come to the negotiating table, agree on a lasting ceasefire and de-escalate tensions. Women absolutely must be there because, without women, you cannot get peace. They will ensure that investment in education and health is part of those negotiations.

This will be impossible without strong two-party mediation, and the UK can and should act as a leading voice in this situation. I therefore ask the Government what steps they are taking to convince both sides of the conflict, first, to allow access for humanitarian aid; secondly, to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law; and, thirdly, to ensure the protection of civilians, humanitarian workers and medical personnel.

Afghanistan

Baroness Goudie Excerpts

Wednesday 18th August 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Goudie (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, I pay tribute to all those in the military services, diplomatic services and others who have been working together in Afghanistan over the last 20 years. I also pay tribute to those who have lost their lives and their families, and those I have been privileged to work with.

For two decades, the Afghan women have been leading efforts to build a brighter future for Afghanistan. Encouraged by us, America, Canada and other countries, they have been working hand in hand to make their country a better, freer and safer place. Now the Taliban has taken control of the country again, these women activists are at risk and are at the top of the Taliban hit list because they stood with us and we encouraged them.

When the Taliban came to power 20 years ago women bore the heaviest price. This time will be no different. It is already the same. As we know, women and their children were unable to go the checkpoints today without somebody going with them. It was terrible. They were turned back. We are hearing that the homes of Afghan women are being invaded and their organisations being looted. They fear for their lives and for their families. We are seeing girls being told not to go to school any more. Women are being told that they cannot leave their homes, except with a guardian.

As I said earlier, women activists are at the top of the Taliban kill list. They are targets for kidnapping, torture and assassination. However, the United Kingdom and US Governments have not prioritised getting this group of heroines to safety. By leaving them behind, we are abandoning our allies and abandoning future generations who are in the greatest of need. It is not too late. We can still keep the promise to our partners.

What is the United Kingdom’s ARAP scheme to accommodate women peacebuilders whom the United Kingdom and other countries supported for their work with women who we trained through peace and security? How will the proposed visa scheme for the most vulnerable Afghans ensure—not over the next five years but over the next five days—that it includes women and girls who supported the UK’s work on peace and security throughout and on the borders of Afghanistan? We know that we work closely with America bringing women from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan to try to do peacebuilding between the three countries. What is the scheme for these women?

How will the UK ensure that all the work on girls’ education will not be reversed and how will we keep the momentum going? How will we ensure that women and girls get safely to the airport, as I have asked previously? Further, what are our proposals for the long-term peace talks and will we ensure that in all peace talks there are 50% women at the table, regardless of the Taliban’s asks? We have to have women at the peace table. I agree with my noble friend Lord Hain that, in the words of Jonathan Powell—who I have a great deal of respect for and have worked with many times —we have to talk to the enemy. If we do not talk to the Taliban, we will not know what is happening. I will be pleased to hear from the Minister how we are going to deal with these things immediately. There is not time, as the Home Secretary thought this morning on Sky.

Ecocide

Baroness Goudie Excerpts

Wednesday 21st July 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

My noble friend raises an interesting point because a lot of communist countries, including China, Russia and many of the former eastern bloc, have the crime of ecocide. The issue really is therefore about enforcement. We are trying to drive forward ambitious global action to address these issues as probably the best way forward, combined with strict enforcement measures which the Environment Bill has set out in full.

[Baroness Goudie (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, ecocide is a crime against human rights. The Minister, the noble Lord, Lord Callanan, yesterday promised that human rights would be taken into consideration in all companies working in these areas. Can the Minister confirm that this is so and that, at the same time, the human rights of families who then have to move because of ecocide crimes have been affected, and that we will take that into consideration?

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

I am not sure that I can go any further than my noble friend Lord Callanan did yesterday, but I take the noble Baroness’s points on board and will make sure that they are relayed to BEIS.

Procedure and Privileges

Baroness Goudie Excerpts

Tuesday 13th July 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Goudie (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, I welcome the opportunity to discuss the commission’s proposal for procedures for the workings of the House of Lords from 6 September. We, as a Government and a country, are moving forward as global Britain with modern ideas for the future.

I have enjoyed working with the hybrid system. I have had no difficulties and any small problems were quickly remedied. The technical team is excellent. What is the rush for us to come back fully in September? Many companies, whether FTSE 100, FTSE 350 or large family firms, are offering their staff to come back in their own way or not to come back at all. I am not suggesting that, however.

The Prime Minister recently said:

“We’re removing the Government instruction to work from home where you can but we don’t expect that the whole country will return to their desk as one … We’re setting out guidance for business for a gradual return to work”.


This is why I question yet again the rush for us to come back.

Further, what does the committee mean by “disability”? A number of members of staff and many Members of this House are extremely vulnerable or having treatment, or have compromised immune systems. The Prime Minister urged us to think of others and to consider the risk. I ask noble Lords to consider the risk to ourselves and to the staff and gradually, over the next 12 months, to keep the hybrid model.

This model could be improved even further. The wi-fi on the estate is not up to speed or to the standard of many firms or other institutions. Will we invest more in wi-fi and further connections to the estate? In certain parts of the estate the wi-fi does not work at all. Trying to vote on your phone in the House is impossible. It is impossible to make a phone call. Wi-fi may work for a small number of colleagues, but we know from experience that the function declines with more people in. What is being done to improve it? We have been asking for a number of years but nothing has happened.

Card readers do not always function well when it comes to opening doors. They need to be looked at again and a fuller report given.

How are we going to circulate and filter the air in the Chamber, Committee Rooms and other rooms? Will further work be done on that? It is almost impossible to open windows. Is the House being fitted with proper air ducts to ensure safety for Members, staff and those who come in to give evidence? Social distancing should still be paramount, in particular in the Chamber and Committee Rooms. I can see Members looking very bored with this, but we have to do it. Social distancing is vital, as we know.

Experts warn of the inherent risks of rushing back. I will vote this afternoon in favour of the amendment moved by my noble friend Lord Adonis about starting earlier. We have to give further consideration to our working practices and we should not rush back on 6 September and throw everything away.

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Duncan of Springbank) (Con)]

The noble Viscount, Lord Trenchard, has scratched, so I call the noble Lord, Lord Elder.

Afghanistan

Baroness Goudie Excerpts

Monday 12th July 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

As I said, I have already made a commitment to write on Pakistan, so I shall do that.

[Baroness Goudie (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, the Americans, in their discussions with Britain, discussed giving freedom and assistance not only to Afghanistan and other countries but to the women peacebuilders and those women at the peace table. How many women are we going to assist and bring to Britain or a safe country, and how long will it be before the Government make these arrangements? The women are at great risk and some, as noble Lords will know, have already been murdered.

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

As I said in earlier answers, the Afghan relocations and assistance policy was launched on 1 April. We are speeding up that process to ensure that anyone whose life is in danger in Afghanistan can access this programme and build a new life in the UK.

Integrated Review

Baroness Goudie Excerpts

Wednesday 17th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord McNicol of West Kilbride) (Lab)]

the noble Baroness, Lady Chalker, has withdrawn. I call our final question from the noble Baroness, Lady Goudie.

[Baroness Goudie (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, I welcome the review at long last. Despite MPs raising concerns about Beijing—its actions in Hong Kong and those against the Uighurs—the Prime Minister warned against a new cold war in China. It has emerged that Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told officials that the UK would strike trade deals with countries, even if they did not meet our standards on human rights. Also, what is meant by “girls’ education”?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

I hope that I made clear in a previous answer that trade does not come at the expense of human rights and that we stand up and speak on human rights, as we have done with China over the issues that the noble Baroness raises. As for girls’ education, we are championing two global targets—40 million more girls in school and one-third more girls reading by the age of 10 in lower middle-income countries by 2025. We intend to use our G7 presidency this year to rally the international community to support those global goals. I am sure that the noble Baroness knows that we are proud to be the largest bilateral donor to the two biggest global education funds—the Global Partnership for Education and Education Cannot Wait.

Integrated Review

Baroness Goudie Excerpts

Monday 23rd November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Goudie (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, I welcome the commitment to our Armed Forces and the Prime Minister defending our people and keeping the world safe, but it would be a moral, strategic and social mistake if we did not continue our foreign aid at the present 0.7% target. Since we have had such a target, Britain has achieved soft power and saved millions of lives in Africa by reducing the number of deaths from malaria and HIV. I hope that the Government will continue with these projects.

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

The noble Baroness is absolutely right. I have said on several occasions in response to noble Lords that we are committed to supporting international development and helping the world’s poorest, but, as I said, spending issues will be covered in the spending review on Wednesday.

Business and Planning Bill

Baroness Goudie Excerpts

2nd reading & 2nd reading (Hansard) & 2nd reading (Hansard): House of Lords
Monday 6th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Goudie (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, this is another Bill which puts yet more pressure on local authorities. There is, however, no plan for how they will be reimbursed. The Government have said that they will stand behind councils and provide them with the funding they desperately need, but this has simply not happened. Less than a third of their costs have been met. The Bill makes only a modest contribution towards recovery. Even that contribution is not realistically supported. The Bill falls far short of what other countries are doing.

Local authorities have an essential role to play. The implementation of national policy requires local knowledge, flexibility and collaboration to ensure safety. A massive recovery in council house and affordable homebuilding must be a core element of a national economic and social recovery, with the right infrastructure and protecting the environment.

An upsurge in homelessness must be avoided. Indeed, existing homelessness must be reduced and the well-being of those in substandard and inadequate housing addressed as a priority.

Now more than ever, as we emerge from the current health crisis—but not, for some time, from its economic consequences—the theme must be to give local authorities the tools to enable them to spearhead economic, social and environmental recovery in the context of a green planning system not subject to delays.

Global Britain

Baroness Goudie Excerpts

Thursday 18th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

I have very happily talked on record several times already during this Statement about the fantastic work of the department and the fact that we want this to be at the centre of the new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Foreign and development policy will be fully integrated in Ministers’ portfolios in the new department, and we want to bring the best of overseas development and diplomacy together, to make sure that we have a coherent and strong international strategy that means we can play our part in the world in the way that we want to, and show leadership, as we have done in so many areas already.

[Baroness Goudie (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, I very much regret the subordination of international aid to the United Kingdom’s foreign policy considerations, for all the reasons that have been given by former Prime Ministers and many others. I would like an undertaking from the Leader on poverty, girls’ education and dealing with peacekeeping on the ground, which was done by DfID previously. Why was this done ahead of the full review? We had an earlier undertaking that the reviews of the Ministry of Defence, the Foreign Office and DfID would be done together. Why, in particular, was this done early, with no contact with the staff? Staff did not know until some of us knew.

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

I set out in my opening comments why this is happening now. I talked about the challenges of the pandemic and the way that that has shaped our view that these things need to be brought together internationally. I can certainly reassure the noble Baroness that girls’ education will remain a priority. I also point out that we are currently one of the few OECD donors that still has a separate development ministry. Other countries, such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, have merged their functions effectively, and we will look to learn from them. We are extremely lucky to have a very high-quality Foreign Office and Department for International Development, which we can bring together to ensure that our expertise remains unparalleled in all areas.