Sudan

Lord Alton of Liverpool Excerpts

Wednesday 30th October 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

We are taking a series of actions. Our first focus is to look strongly at humanitarian access and getting in support, in relation to the UN decisions. On 18 October, we led a joint statement with 10 other donors to condemn the obstruction. On broader support, we are providing nutrition, safe drinking water, medical care and shelter through both the WFP and UNICEF. But be under no illusions that the situation in Sudan is dire because of a civil war conducted by two generals. We need to ensure that we put immediate pressure on those two people to stop the war, so that we can get the sorts of actions in place that my noble friend referred to.

[Lord Alton of Liverpool (CB)]

My Lords, earlier today, on behalf of the All-Party Group on Sudan, I chaired a meeting with the civil society actors in Sudan —the Taqaddum, which means “progress”—which is a starting place for civilian engagement. Its members have asked whether the Minister, who has responsibility for Africa, would be willing to meet them. They also asked whether we, as penholders at the Security Council, will take the opportunity to ask for the extension of the mandate of the International Criminal Court that currently covers Darfur to cover the whole of Sudan, so that those responsible for some of the horrors that the Minister has rightly described will one day be brought to justice.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

I reassure the noble Lord of the importance of Taqaddum and the engagement with civil society in Sudan. I not only met His Excellency Mr Hamdok yesterday but saw him at the FT Africa conference today. I will continue to engage with Taqaddum. We have been a constant supporter of the group, as it is very important. When I met His Excellency, we stressed the importance of inclusive engagement, so that everyone in Sudan feels involved.

On the situation in Darfur and the UN resolution, as the noble Lord understands we tend not to move resolutions that we cannot garner support for. What I do not want to do is to move the clock back. By working with the Human Rights Council, we managed to ensure that the fact-finding mission had its remit extended, and we increased the number of people supporting that Motion. We will take all diplomatic steps. I hope that when we take the presidency of the Security Council, which I will attend, we will ensure that the focus to which the noble Lord is drawing the House’s attention will be included.