Sudan and South Sudan: EUC Report

Lord Bishop of Exeter Excerpts

Wednesday 17th October 2012 Grand Committee

[The Lord Bishop of Exeter]

My Lords, the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of York spoke in some detail of the pressing need for a peaceful and honourable solution to both the conflict that exists between Sudan and Southern Sudan and the internal conflicts within Sudan itself, not least those affecting the South Kordofan and Blue Nile regions. However, whether such a political solution is quickly forthcoming or not, there is currently, as the noble Lord, Lord Chidgey, pointed out, a severe humanitarian need in these same regions—a need that, sadly, is largely unknown to many who live in the West, especially when we compare it to other humanitarian crises of recent years. It is a need that cries out to be responded to effectively, and now.

Last week I had the opportunity of meeting Bishop Andudu Adam Elnail, the Bishop of Kadugli, and heard at first hand how, one year into the renewed conflict between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, communities in South Kordofan and Blue Nile continue to experience significant humanitarian needs against a backdrop of severely limited humanitarian access. In South Kordofan there are approximately 400,000 internally displaced persons, more than 300,000 of them in areas controlled by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and almost 100,000 in Government-controlled areas. In the Blue Nile region 300,000 people have been affected, resulting in some 80,000 refugees in South Sudan and 32,000 in Ethiopia. The situation is deteriorating day by day because of poor harvests and high food prices, a situation that follows two years when harvests were simply not possible due to the conflict.

Despite the provisions of the tripartite agreement between the United Nations, the African Union and the League of Arab States, as yet no agreement has been reached on conducting a needs assessment in the SPLM-North areas. The Government of Sudan have deployed indiscriminate aerial bombardment against military and civilian targets, and for the past year they have not permitted any humanitarian assistance to enter SPLM-N-controlled areas. In these circumstances it would be good to know what Her Majesty’s Government and the EU can do to enlist the support of those countries such as those in the Gulf, which have influence in Khartoum, to exert pressure to ensure progress in the humanitarian access negotiations. In the absence of progress in such negotiations, it would be good to hear what other options are being considered to ensure that humanitarian needs are met.

Among the most pressing needs are effective aid, especially in food security, which in turn requires agricultural inputs and veterinary services, and I endorse all the comments just made by the noble Lord, Lord Cameron, but also health assistance, including support for EPI—expanded programme on immunisation—activities, basic medicine and support to health workers at the level of primary health care. Looking to the longer term, there is also a need for educational aid, which is often overlooked in the act of trying to meet the immediate needs of the present day, not simply in the context of the Sudan. At present the proportion of humanitarian aid for education globally is just 2% of the whole. There seems to be a general consensus among aid agencies that, as a percentage, this needs to be at least doubled. That in turn requires a reaffirmation of the international community’s commitment to universal primary education, both in the lead-up to 2015 and beyond; commitment to learning for all beyond 2015, including for children in conflict-affected and fragile states and those caught up in emergencies; and, to this end, the improved delivery of education in emergencies by establishing pooled funds, with a single policy framework that combines rapid financing for devolved school construction, teacher recruitment and in-service training, support for local communities and the development of capacity at all levels of government. I welcome the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Jay, on the need for more effective donor co-ordination.

Coming back to education, what is needed is education in literacy and skills but also education, without indoctrination, in basic human rights and the ways of co-operation, something that is very difficult when enmity is longstanding and when a young country is, understandably, trying to avoid being told what to do by the wider world. So there is an important issue to do with the nature of education aid in the medium term. It is challenging, and yet such education support is vital for long-term stability and, hence, recovery.

This brings me, briefly, to the potential contribution of the churches. Even though many within the international NGO sector recognise the value of churches and other faith groups at community level and their long-term engagement, there are still huge obstacles to overcome in order to establish operational partnerships. International humanitarian mechanisms do not currently provide space for engagement with non-NGO-shaped actors. There is often a feeling that the Church should come to the NGO forums, rather than the NGOs seeking out the local wisdom of local faith leaders and networks. Churches, like all of civil society, have struggled to build financial, communications and technical capacity—although, compared to local government, their capacity is strong—so new models for accompanying them need to be found. An understanding of the social and spiritual capital of local faith communities needs to be part of strategic planning, and innovative opportunities for engagement should be tested out.

I welcome the fact that the Department for International Development guidelines recognise that local churches are key partners and players in the delivery of aid, including education, even though the same guidelines tend to oversimplify the situation by stating that Sudan is now a largely homogeneous Arab Muslim state. That this latter statement is not true is demonstrated not only by the two major conflicts already referred to—not to mention the continuing conflict in Darfur, which is a case of multiple and diverse ethnicities, although mainly Muslim—but also by the continued persecution experienced by the local Church, something to which the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of York has already referred.

However, although DfID recognises the role of the Church, it is highly unfortunate that UNHCR and other NGOs do not always adopt the same policy. The churches and other religious bodies have a key role to play in both delivery and mediation, and yet often the UNHCR treats them as special interest groups without a general humanitarian agenda. Such an approach not only risks marginalising significant groups that work for the common good but can also exacerbate tension if people believe that they are the subject of discrimination. A genuine partnership here could be so effective, with church leaders often having the potential to act as honest brokers in the local community as well as delivering local aid, especially education. The Archbishop and Lambeth Palace are deeply committed to welcoming and supporting the upcoming UNHCR High Commissioner’s Dialogue on faith to be held this December, as well as to an international interfaith research project called the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities.

I therefore conclude by inviting Her Majesty’s Government to encourage the UNHCR to recognise the crucial role of churches and other religious bodies in places such as Sudan and South Sudan in building the broad coalition that is needed to ensure that vital humanitarian aid, including educational aid, is delivered to the places where it is required.