Sudan: US Determination of Genocide

Debate between Steve Race and Anneliese Dodds

Monday 13th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Anneliese Dodds]

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for raising those issues. I am keen to work across the House to elevate the salience of this dreadful situation. He mentioned the Jeddah process. The new UK Government are clear, as I believe were the previous Government, that both warring parties have to engage with those mechanisms. Of course, commitments were made by the warring parties during the Jeddah process that have not been held to. They must be held to, and they must both engage with the mechanisms being created to seek a ceasefire. Instead, we have seen a frustrating situation where there may have been engagement by the RSF on some and by the SAF on others. They both must engage for the sake of civilians within Sudan and the many refugees beyond it.

The right hon. Gentleman asked what we are doing in relation to other countries. I will repeat what I said before: the new Government are clear—again, as I believe were the previous Government—that there must not be engagement from other countries in this conflict, aside from delivering the humanitarian aid in Sudan that is desperately needed. That is very clear—the Sudanese people have suffered enough.

[Steve Race (Exeter) (Lab)]

UNICEF’s latest figures estimate that 3.2 million children in Sudan face acute malnutrition this year, putting them at severe risk of death. The limited humanitarian access, which is limited by all warring parties, is to blame for this crisis. Will the Government tell us what discussions they have had with actors in Sudan and with regional actors to ensure full humanitarian access for those most at risk in Sudan, including, importantly, children?

[Anneliese Dodds]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that issue. I know he is deeply concerned about developments over recent months. Of course, a significant one has been the changes we have seen over time at the Adre crossing, which is critical for ensuring that aid can pass into some of the areas of Sudan that are under the most intense pressure, particularly when it comes to food supplies. It is important that the Adre crossing is kept open permanently. Of course, we welcome the agreement to extend the opening of that crossing beyond the initial three-month extension to 15 November, but it should be open for the future—that is important.

We also need the RSF to commit to urgently facilitating access across lines of conflict. We need openness to aid, both into Sudan and then within Sudan, across lines between the warring parties, to get support to those who are so in need, including children, as my hon. Friend rightly says.

UK Leadership on Sudan

Debate between Steve Race and Anneliese Dodds

Thursday 28th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Steve Race (Exeter) (Lab)]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I thank the Minister for coming to the House to give this statement and for all the work the Government are doing to support the Sudanese people in the face of severe malnutrition and starvation. Keeping the Adre crossing open is extremely important. The Sudanese armed forces have committed to three months, but what diplomatic pressure are the Government bringing to bear to ensure that that crossing remains open for longer than three months? The ability to bring in ready-to-use therapeutic food is so important, and there are global shortages in the production of RUTF at the moment. Ahead of the nutrition for growth summit next year, will the Government commit to investing in scaling up production of RUTF?

[Anneliese Dodds]

My hon. Friend raises an important point, and he is absolutely correct. The nutrition for growth conference is coming up next year in Paris, and I was discussing that yesterday with some civil society experts. We must ensure that we are doing all we can so that there is provision of those much needed resources, especially for those already suffering from malnutrition. My hon. Friend also mentioned the additional challenge of those impediments to access to aid, which must be lifted. I am pleased that the House is united in its condemnation of those impediments, and I hope we can continue to work together on this appalling crisis.

ROYAL ASSENT

Sudan

Debate between Steve Race and Anneliese Dodds

Tuesday 29th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Anneliese Dodds]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for referring to the emergency response rooms; I had a meeting with a number of people involved with those mechanisms. We are talking about ordinary Sudanese people who have taken extremely brave steps to make sure that they are supporting their local communities with desperately needed humanitarian aid—food, water and other supplies that they need right now. As a Co-operative party MP, I believe that they have shown the best of mutual aid, and incredible courage at the same time. The UK is working with the UN on that, because we need to make sure that those individuals are supported in their incredibly important work. On the subject of aid from Chad, we will continue to push to make sure that the Adré border crossing is kept open and that there are no bureaucratic and administrative obstacles to aid getting through from there.

[Steve Race (Exeter) (Lab)]

What discussions have the Government had with regional actors to bring to bear pressure on the RSF and the SAF to make sure that humanitarian access to the country is allowed to prevent the severe starvation that is ongoing?

[Anneliese Dodds]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this. We have had discussions with a number of bilateral partners both in the region and outside it. In fact, I discussed this with the USAID administrator last week when I was at the World Bank annuals, but we have of course had a number of discussions with regional actors as well—particularly countries in the Gulf, but beyond that as well. We know that many of them have relationships with individuals in Sudan, and we are really pushing for those to be used so that we see the aid delivery that is so desperately needed.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Steve Race and Anneliese Dodds

Wednesday 9th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Steve Race (Exeter) (Lab)]

T2. Many of my constituents in Exeter benefit from maternity pay, which supports women while they spend precious time with their new-born children. Is the Minister of the view that maternity pay, in the words of one Tory leadership candidate, has “gone too far”?

[The Minister for Women and Equalities (Anneliese Dodds)]

Absolutely not, and my hon. Friend is right to mention the fact that that kind of assessment flies in the face of not only common sense, but all the economic evidence. When we support women to return to work and to progress at work, while being able to spend time with their families, we grow our economy—something that this Government are determined to do.