Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking with (a) international and (b) NGO partners to remove blocks on humanitarian aid entering Sudan.

The UK continues to work with international partners, including the UN and NGOs, to press for improved access for the delivery of aid into and across Sudan and consistently calls for the removal of all bureaucratic and administrative impediments to ensure aid can reach those in need. We raised the critical importance of increased humanitarian cross-border access at open briefings at the UN Security Council on 19 December 2024 and 6 January 2025 and have engaged directly with the new Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, on the UN response. On 25 November, the Foreign Secretary chaired a Sudan meeting with G7 and Arab Quint Foreign Ministers to discuss joint steps to improve humanitarian access and increase aid. On 18 October, the UK, along with 10 other donors, released a joint statement condemning the deliberate obstruction of humanitarian efforts by the warring parties. On 15 October, Lord Collins and I met with a range of NGOs to discuss humanitarian access in Sudan.