Sudan

Baroness Blower Excerpts

Friday 13th September 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blower (Lab)]

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend on tabling this debate and on his particularly good opening speech. I echo the words of my noble friend Lord Browne: it has been a privilege to sit in the Chamber and listen to some remarkable speeches from your Lordships, illustrating such a depth of experience, knowledge, understanding and passion about the situation in Sudan.

During the debate, we have heard detailed historical analysis, figures and information available from organisations such as the World Food Programme, the Mercy Corps, CAFOD, UNICEF, the Norwegian and Danish Refugee Councils, and others, about the numbers of people facing starvation and, critically, famine. We have also heard that these hunger crises of enormous proportions are absolutely human-made and that, far from being a by-product of the conflict, they are a categoric choice by the warring parties in their disregard for human rights and international law. Hunger and starvation are being used as a weapon of war, as many noble Lords have said.

Children are very much to the fore in this. Of the 25 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, over 13.5 million of them are children. Nearly 4 million children under five are malnourished; as the noble Lord said, 750,000 are suffering from severe, acute, life-threatening malnutrition; and nearly 2 million children under one need vital vaccinations.

These figures are, frankly, hard to comprehend but are an absolute call to action for us in the UK to ensure that, as penholder at the UN Security Council, we strain every sinew to rise to the challenges of mitigating the immediate impacts of the conflict. If a ceasefire in Sudan at a national level seems far off, there are still initiatives that need to be taken. Communities in Sudan seek flexible humanitarian assistance—cash, as described by the noble Lord, Lord Oates, to enable them to buy basic necessities in the local markets, which are still functioning—and, of course, to support farmers to boost food production. The briefing we received at the APPG this week was titled If Bullets Miss, Hunger Won’t. That is a very stark title. Remarkably, though, the speakers from all of the organisations at the APPG agreed that all is not yet lost and that there is hope, although this will evaporate without absolutely determined mitigation and action from the international community.

I will add just a few words about education. According to UNICEF and the Sudanese Teachers’ Committee, and as we have heard from other noble Lords, 19 million children are out of school and missing education, which is of course their human right. They are also becoming vulnerable to child labour, child marriage and recruitment by armed groups. UNICEF is none the less providing what it can in terms of formal and non-formal education programmes and psychosocial support. This is vital work but, as in other respects and as the noble Lord, Lord Bellingham, said, it is not enough. UNICEF, like all others, is calling for a ceasefire and steps towards a lasting peace, and, like other agencies and organisations, is deeply concerned that the 19 million children who are out of school, including 5 million who are displaced, have little or no access to education now and going forward. This loss of education will leave a post-conflict Sudan, when it comes, without the skills, capacity and resilience to rebuild.

I do not need to ask the Minister to reaffirm the UK’s commitment to keeping the war and humanitarian crisis in Sudan high on the UK’s agenda and the international agenda. He gave that commitment in his opening speech. However, I plan to press the case for urgent consideration of the asylum situation of Sudanese nationals in this country, and for safe and legal routes for the Sudanese people who wish to come here, as I have asked previously in this Chamber. I need not elaborate on that, as the noble Lord, Lord Kerr, made all the points so eloquently. I simply endorse them.