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.