South Sudan

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Wednesday 7th December 2016 Westminster Hall

[Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the humanitarian situation in South Sudan.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Betts, although it is no pleasure to consider the scale and depth of the plight of South Sudan today. We probably all remember that back in July 2011, we greeted what was then the world’s newest country, South Sudan. The hope was that decades of violence would end and there would be new beginnings for the South Sudanese people. Five years on, the country has been plunged into civil war once again, with the rebel leader Riek Machar calling for armed struggle against President Salva Kiir’s Government in Juba.

Although violence erupted again in July, we know that it had never been far away: the country has essentially been in conflict since 2013. We have seen instability and conflict spread throughout South Sudan, into some previously untouched areas such as the Equatorias and greater Bahr el Ghazal. The conflict has also taken on an ethnic dimension and brought to the surface historical injustices, along with present day grievances.

Humanitarian indicators rarely tell the whole story, but in the case of South Sudan, the numbers are staggering. Out of a population of 12 million, some 3 million people are displaced. Of those, 1.8 million are internally displaced inside the country—most people believe that is a conservative figure—and 1.2 million have fled as refugees to neighbouring countries. The indications are that 4.8 million people are currently food-insecure and that one in five South Sudanese women in the protection of civilian camps have reported sexual abuse. We know that women and girls have been disproportionately affected by the crisis in South Sudan, as they account for 57% of the registered internally displaced people. The situation is expected to deteriorate even further in 2017, with increased conflict, deepening food insecurity and a further deterioration of the country’s already desperate economic situation.

We recently had a clear warning from the United Nations special adviser on the prevention of genocide, Adama Dieng, that there is a strong risk of violence escalating along ethnic lines, with the possibility of genocide. We see hate speech, stereotyping and polarising rhetoric on South Sudanese radio and social media. Trust in an inclusive, distinctive South Sudanese national identity is at its lowest ebb. With the dry season approaching, there are fears of a large-scale Government offensive in the coming weeks.

[Sir Henry Bellingham (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this debate. He mentioned the UN special adviser. Does he agree that there is an incredibly important role for the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan, which has been spectacularly under-delivering, with poor leadership, and that UNMISS needs to be beefed up substantially and have its role extended and expanded, in line with the recent UN inquiry?

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Wednesday 4th May 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Swayne]

Those territories certainly have extractives, and we are pushing that agenda. I regularly meet representatives of the extractives industry to drive forward this initiative.

[Sir Henry Bellingham (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

4. What steps her Department is taking to improve access to energy for the poorest people in Africa.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development (Mr Nick Hurd)]

Some 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa still do not have access to the electricity that we all take for granted, and progress towards the global goal of universal access by 2030 is too slow. We launched the Energy Africa campaign to accelerate the expansion of the household solar market and make it work for the poorest people in the world.

[Sir Henry Bellingham]

Does the Minister agree that solar power can make a real difference to economic development in places such as the Sahel? What is DFID doing to assist the roll-out of off-grid solar power for countries coming out of conflict, such as South Sudan and Somalia?

[Mr Hurd]

My hon. Friend has a profound understanding of the region, and I assure him that Somalia is one of the first countries to have signed an agreement with us on the Energy Africa campaign. I hope that many others will follow.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Wednesday 28th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

The hon. Gentleman is right to raise this forgotten crisis. At the UN in September, I held a discussion with a range of stakeholders, including UN agencies, about how we can do a better job of reaching people in need, but that fundamentally requires a dialogue on how to achieve peace.

[Mr Henry Bellingham (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

T5. Given that the Government of Somalia have now taken control of several towns and areas previously occupied by al-Shabaab, does the Secretary of State agree that it is crucial that effective local government services be put in place to win the support of local communities? What further support will DFID provide to support communities in this troubled area?

[Justine Greening]

My hon. Friend is right that, as we hopefully achieve growing political stability in Somalia, we back that up by allowing a more federal approach to government. Indeed, DFID is pulling together programmes that will enable us to support local government to provide the basic services people depend on.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Wednesday 5th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

The hon. Lady is right that as part of the new alliance, it is vital that we see support for smallholder farmers alongside the broader work that is taking place to strengthen agriculture in many of those countries that she has spoken about. It is part of an economic strategy as well as a food security strategy and it is immensely important.

[Mr Henry Bellingham (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

T7. Given the recent success of the Somali peace process, does my right hon. Friend agree that her aid programme for that country now needs to concentrate on building up the private sector and wealth creation?

[Justine Greening]

My hon. Friend will be aware that one of the things that DFID is doing more than ever before is work on economic development. It is vital that we help people and countries end aid dependency through jobs.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Wednesday 5th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Lynne Featherstone]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. Livelihoods and jobs are a key focus for DFID, and we are doing a great deal of work on them. Some of the money that we are providing is built into resilience work, because the problems in the Sahel are about drought and climate change. It is what we can do for the long term that matters most.

[Mr Henry Bellingham (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

Does the Minister agree that although Mali is not within our normal sphere of influence, it is critical to the future stability of the Sahel? Is she aware that there was a lot of devastation to agriculture during the recent civil war? What can DFID do to help multilateral organisations that are working to help communities there?

[Lynne Featherstone]

We put a great deal of our money through multilaterals right across the Sahel, and we have committed £83 million in humanitarian support through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and international non-governmental organisations across five countries—Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania and Niger.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

The hon. Gentleman may be aware that we are the single largest contributor to the common humanitarian fund, which does precisely what I think he wants us to do—provide the humanitarian support needed by so many people affected by the conflict. Alongside that work, we have an additional fund for emergency response; that focuses particularly on providing for people’s health and sanitation needs. As I have explained, I have extended that by a further six months. I assure the hon. Gentleman that we are absolutely playing a leading role in that regard.

[Mr Henry Bellingham (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

A large amount of money is involved and a significant amount is, rightly, being spent on the crisis. Does the Secretary of State agree that it is essential that her Department gets the full support and co-operation of the DRC Government? Does she also agree that it is equally essential to have the total engagement and commitment of the President of the DRC? In the past, that has not been fully forthcoming.

[Justine Greening]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Ultimately, we need a political solution to the conflict, and that has to be led by President Kabila. The solution also has to be regional if it is to be sustainable. Furthermore, Mary Robinson, the special envoy appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General, can have a key role in bringing together the various countries that must be brought together if we are finally to achieve long lasting and long overdue peace.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Wednesday 12th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right. My right hon. Friend the Health Secretary will make an announcement shortly about Safe and Sustainable and children’s heart operations. We have to be frank with people: we cannot expect really technical surgery, such as children’s heart operations, to be carried out at every hospital in the country. As the parent of a desperately ill child wanting the best care for that child, you need to know that you are getting something that is world best when it comes to really technical operations, but you cannot have that everywhere. Clearly, however, the conclusion is that this process, which started in 2008, has not been carried out properly, so we need to make a restart.

[Mr Henry Bellingham (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

Q13. Is the Prime Minister aware that last year Britain became a net exporter of cars for the first time since 1976? If this trend continues, the UK will produce an all-time record of 2 million cars in 2017. Is this not a really good example of a high added-value sector upskilling and putting the “great” back into British manufacturing and exports?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that this is a good example of a British industry that is succeeding. If we look at Honda, Nissan, Toyota or Jaguar Land Rover, we see really good news in our automotive sector. We now need to get behind it and encourage it to have as much of its supply chain onshore as possible. That is beginning to happen in these industries, and I hope for further progress in the months ahead.

Overseas Aid (Private Sector Contracts)

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Monday 11th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

In my answer to the shadow Secretary of State, I set out the criteria we use for giving out contracts. We need to engage with the CBI—we have already had initial meetings—on how to get a more structured approach to responsibly engaging business in the development push. It is right to point out that there is a good way and a bad way of doing this, as the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne) says. The key thing for today is to engage in a process, working with the CBI, industry federation bodies, non-governmental organisations and stakeholders, business schools around Britain and other communities, about how to develop a proper strategy for getting business involved in the development push. That is what I want to see happen. To date, we have done a number of ad hoc projects, but now we need to pull them together and develop a more holistic strategy.

[Mr Henry Bellingham (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

I congratulate the Secretary of State on her excellent speech this morning, and I particularly welcome what she said about relieving poverty through trade. Does she agree that one of the best ways of unlocking wealth creation is through free trade agreements in developing countries? Would she particularly welcome Trademark East Africa, a Southern African Development Community- led tripartite agreement?

[Justine Greening]

Yes, I would. DFID has supported the Trademark East Africa initiative, and my hon. Friend will be aware that African Union leaders want to create a free trade area by 2017. It is an ambitious plan, but one that we should support.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Wednesday 12th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

The hon. Lady raises an important point. I have had the opportunity to meet many of the organisations working on the ground, particularly in eastern DRC, to protect and help civilians. They have a range of needs, from security and medical assistance to food and shelter. She is right to flag up the fact that, in many cases, when people are at risk of violence, the place they go is their local church. We are working on the ground wherever we can to ensure that we do our bit to improve the situation.

[Mr Henry Bellingham (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

Does the Secretary of State agree that the head of M23, Bosco Ntaganda, is a vile, evil, wicked man who is perpetrating so much misery in the region? What more can be done to apprehend this ghastly individual?

[Justine Greening]

It is important that we take all the steps we can to apprehend all those people who have been involved in atrocities in that region. There is no doubt that achieving stability in the DRC needs a political solution, but such a solution has to mean that people who have committed offences do not have impunity.

UK Aid (Uganda and Rwanda)

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Monday 19th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

To provide the hon. Lady with some reassurance, let me say that the vast majority of our aid goes not through the Government of Uganda, but through other non-governmental organisations on the ground. We are looking at what we can do to ensure that we continue to achieve the same results in relation to the programmes that we had planned to have undergoing at the moment in Uganda. Again, I have to steer a balance in ensuring that taxpayers’ money is spent appropriately and is not withdrawn from the system by corruption and fraud, while, as she pointed out, making sure that we bear in mind that the programme was there to make a difference and that we still want that difference to be made.

[Mr Henry Bellingham (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that no effort should be spared in bringing to justice the wicked and evil Bosco Ntaganda, a convicted war criminal? What extra efforts are being made to apprehend him?

Will my right hon. Friend also reinforce the point that her predecessor, our right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell), behaved honourably and correctly, as he made clear to the International Development Select Committee the other day?

[Justine Greening]

Yes, and I will start by reiterating the points I made to the Select Committee. I believe that my predecessor went through an extremely robust process and took a robust decision on Rwanda, and I fully support his actions. Of course, I will have to go through a similar process and reach my own conclusions about the next tranche.

On those who have led the horrific violence on the ground, which has included sexual violence against women and getting children to sign up to armies against their will, we should absolutely leave no stone unturned in bringing them to justice