Sudan

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Thursday 28th June 2018 Grand Committee

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, it is a real privilege to follow the noble Lord, Lord Luce. I respectfully agree with much of what he said. I am pleased to take part in this timely review of the current situation in Sudan. In the minutes I have available, I will curtail myself to speaking about the women of Sudan.

All local and international conflict inevitably means that it is women and their families who suffer grave poverty and injustice. They lack access to basic medical needs and they miss out educationally and, not least, on social and economic growth and prosperity. Noble Lords may wish to note that I have visited Sudan on two occasions, with a view to making a specific assessment of the impact on women of the prolonged and unjust sanctions that have crippled Sudan’s basic infrastructure and services, with a severe impact on child and maternal health and education, as well as hampering the well-being of all the people of Sudan.

The Committee should note the presence of women in leading roles in all sections of society—the family has always been firm in Sudan—and the resilience of women in Sudan, even though a difficult period of history has curtailed access to office for some of them. It is worth noting that women were enfranchised in 1953 and that they currently occupy 30% of the seats in the assembly. Constitutionally, Sudanese women’s rights are enshrined in Sudan’s legislation. Sudanese women also occupy numerous positions within the civil services, including in diplomatic missions and the African Union Commission, and they were pioneers in the judiciary on the African continent and the Arab world, setting a precedent with the first female judge in modern history in that region. Alongside numerous senior female judges, 40% of legal counsellors and prosecutors in Sudan’s Ministry of Justice are females.

The Ahfad University for Women, which I am sure my noble friend will talk about later, stands as an example of the pioneering advances in female education in Sudan. Established in 1907, it was elevated to university status in 1966 and currently hosts more than 6,000 female students, who are enrolled from Sudan, the region and the rest of the world. According to UNESCO, the gross enrolment ratio of female students in secondary education in Sudan is 45%, compared to 46% for males. Their presence within the national dialogue is most noteworthy as Sudan emerges from the dark days of sanction and isolation.

I commend the UK’s ongoing strategic dialogue and the British Council’s programme, alongside our joint collaboration to counter regional extremism. Can the Minister say how many women are involved in these programmes and whether any of the expert group of trainers and negotiators who we may be sending are from the diaspora? How many are Sudanese women? I accept that, post conflict, Sudan requires many facets of assistance and aid. No doubt the rules of engagement apply to the exchange of our financial support, training and trade. Can the Minister give an assurance that those rules of engagement have undergone some kind of transformation since the bygone era of our colonial past? The ethos of “We know best” does not stand up to scrutiny in the current world order and I hope that our work will be collaborative, avoiding any relics of the colonial policies of the past.

We must ensure that in all future programmes experts have a stake in developing Sudan, not keeping it under our thumb for the next generation. The expertise must come from the Sudanese and African diaspora and should in particular include women in equal numbers in the leading positions. Given our current international priorities and ongoing development support, I would like to see the needs of women and families addressed in our overall strategic priorities.

I note that many of the complexities that have been mentioned are ongoing and require our continuing collective co-operation to resolve many issues as we forge ahead in our relationship with Sudan. Can the Minister tell us how women’s economic empowerment and leadership can be further strengthened and supported by our Government’s initiatives, both those already in place and those for the future? How many women are benefiting from the Chevening scholarship programme and what, if anything, is already in place as a part of our package of trade, education and other forms of support to ensure that women can freely access health and social care for their families and play their part in civil society? How will the noble Lord ensure that, instead of our usual experts being sent out to meet the perceived needs of Sudan, we rely on internal and diaspora experts to ensure that the future leaders who emerge value and respect one another as well as international standards and common values?