South Sudan

Earl of Sandwich Excerpts

Wednesday 4th July 2018 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Sandwich (CB)]

My Lords, I am most grateful to my noble friend Lord Curry, who is a fellow member of our APPG on Sudan and South Sudan and has had a particular interest in this area for some years. My own background is that I worked with Save the Children in 1989-90—it has very kindly assisted me with this debate today. I also live in the Salisbury diocese, which is active on South Sudan’s behalf.

I have followed the fortunes of South Sudan since I first visited Bentiu and Malakal on behalf of Christian Aid back in the 1970s. Even then, after the 1974 Addis Ababa agreement, the south was a region afflicted by sporadic violence. It is hard to see how this resilient nation has endured these conditions for so long, despite successive peace agreements and the exciting referendum result that led to independence. As we have heard, since 2013, South Sudan has been gripped by emergencies and continued insecurity. Riek Machar once had close ties with this country and I would expect the FCO to have his mobile number even today. Endless talks in Addis Ababa, limited success for IGAD’s high-level revitalisation forum, continued activity by the SSCC—and a lot of other acronyms—have characterised the cessation of hostilities. On the positive side, I hear from Tearfund that the participation of women and young people has recently been more evident in the negotiations. The Sudan unit in the FCO has worked hard on the peace process, and I look forward to the Minister’s latest analysis.

I know from my own visits that, as the noble Baroness has just said, South Sudan is a dangerous place to work. According to Save the Children it is one of the deadliest places in the world, with tens of thousands of civilians killed and nearly 100 aid workers losing their lives since 2013. Aid workers were frequently targeted in the months during or following those events, and even the displaced under the protection of the UN were subject to violence and rape. A civil society statement to the African Union explicitly condemns the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and the use of child soldiers and calls for an independent investigation into allegations of the use of sexual violence. The UN’s own human rights report on South Sudan in February stated:

“Conflict-related sexual violence is endemic. Rape, mutilations of sexual organs and other forms of sexual violence, targeting girls, boys, women and men, are often committed in front of children, humiliating the victims, their families and their communities and destroying the social fabric. That leaves behind a traumatized people and sows the seeds of yet more violence”.


Did our Government support calls for action on these horrendous crimes such as a special court or a TRC? If not, we can only express our horror and consternation, as my noble friend described.

Over 4 million people, roughly one-third of the population, have been forced from their homes, making South Sudan the third-largest refugee-producing nation globally behind Syria and Afghanistan. According to Save the Children, famine has now been declared and famine levels of food insecurity persist in many parts of the country. Basic infrastructure is lacking or has been destroyed, with only 400 fully operational health facilities left nationwide. Many areas are now severely restricted, even the once peaceful Equatoria, where the more recent fighting has taken place.

As one of the largest operational NGOs in South Sudan, Save the Children is prioritising access to basic services and protection for South Sudanese children. I saw some of its work during our APPG visit just before independence. They have been involved in health and education at a high level, alongside government and the UN agencies. It is common knowledge that a lot of money from the World Bank designated for the health sector virtually disappeared a few years ago, and all donor Governments were wary of investing in the Salva Kiir administration even before the present conflict. Oil revenue has doubtless ensured the payment of soldiers before teachers and nurses, although no figures since 2016 are likely to be available.

For now, though, the humanitarian emergency has the highest priority. The aid agencies have particular concerns. I quote from an appeal from Save the Children:

“We call on all parties to allow full humanitarian access, to respect international law and end the war on children whose rights are continually violated in South Sudan. While conflict persists, we must see an end to the targeting of schools, hospitals, and humanitarian actors, as well as an increase in funding to agencies and INGO’s whose operations are being crippled by a lack of resources”.


I have more statistics to offer—some have already been mentioned and I will select only a few. Out of the 4 million displaced, 85% are women and children. One million live on the brink of famine. Last year 1.75 million children under five and breastfeeding mothers were acutely malnourished. There were more than 50 deliberate attacks on schools and hospitals in the two years up to last December. Nearly 2 million children are out of school, with almost 10% of schools destroyed, damaged or closed. For aid agencies there is one especially unusual and alarming statistic: South Sudan has the highest number of verified cases of denial of humanitarian access globally, with 44% of incidents internationally occurring there.

So of course my question for the Minister has to be: what are our Government doing to ensure that humanitarian access is improved, what are the constraints and how can the international community work together more effectively to remove them? I look forward to the Minister’s response.