Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what discussions his Department has had with non-governmental organisations on famine relief in Sudan; and with which non-governmental organisations his Department works in that country.

We frequently engage with a range of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working on the humanitarian and food insecurity crisis response in Sudan including international non-governmental organisations (INGO) Country Directors and representatives, and with the Sudan INGO and national non-governmental organisations (NNGO) Forum leads, to ensure that our programming and policy is well informed by INGO and NNGO perspectives. The UK last year provided £23.5 million to the UN-led Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SHF) to provide flexible, multi-sector support and which predominantly provides funding to NGOs; we will continue our support to the SHF this year too. We will provide £89 million to support Sudan over the year ahead, most of which will go towards humanitarian assistance. Exact budgets are in the process of being allocated. UK support will continue to be delivered through the UN and other trusted partners including some NGOs such as the Danish Refugee Council, Norwegian Refugee Council and Save the Children.