UK allocates £54 million more for humanitarian assistance and for elections in Sudan
06 January 2010
A £54 million package of aid from the UK to help Sudan, along with a renewed call for support to the country’s peace process on its fifth anniversary this week, was announced today by ministers Baroness Kinnock and Gareth Thomas.
Of the new funding, £36 million will go into the Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF), which the UK was instrumental in setting up, and will be used by UN agencies and NGOs to provide emergency water and sanitation, healthcare, shelter and other essential services.
In addition to the CHF funding, the next £10 million of the UK’s commitment to the Southern Sudan Recovery Fund (SRF) will go towards helping promote security in the South.
The UK today also announced a further £8m to support elections in Sudan, bringing our total contribution to elections to £12.5m. Funding will focus on focused on education, preventing conflict and helping to ensure the elections run peacefully.
At a joint press briefing in London today, Foreign Office Minister Baroness Kinnock and International Development Minister Gareth Thomas underlined UK support for the peace process.
Baroness Kinnock said:
"Saturday 9 January will mark the fifth anniversary of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). This is a cause for celebration and for congratulations to the people of Sudan. The CPA ended Africa’s longest-running civil war. It has been through many challenges remains intact and has prevented a return to major conflict. But now is a critical time.
"There is now three months until nationwide elections and one year until the referendum on self-determination for Southern Sudan. Sudan needs clear, visionary leadership to overcome the challenges ahead and realise a peaceful future for Sudan, both in the period up to the referendum and for the years after, regardless of the outcome. "There has been encouraging progress in recent weeks. The UK will continue working with both parties to build on this."
"There is now three months until nationwide elections and one year until the referendum on self-determination for Southern Sudan. Sudan needs clear, visionary leadership to overcome the challenges ahead and realise a peaceful future for Sudan, both in the period up to the referendum and for the years after, regardless of the outcome.
"There has been encouraging progress in recent weeks. The UK will continue working with both parties to build on this."
International Development Minister Gareth Thomas said:
“Peace in Sudan is crucial if the country is to develop and prosper. "The people of Sudan have suffered under some of the worst humanitarian conditions in the world, with nine out of 10 people living in poverty. UK support has helped change millions of lives in Sudan, but we can only do so much, and I urge the Sudanese government to do all in its power to keep the peace, while respecting human rights."
“Peace in Sudan is crucial if the country is to develop and prosper.
"The people of Sudan have suffered under some of the worst humanitarian conditions in the world, with nine out of 10 people living in poverty. UK support has helped change millions of lives in Sudan, but we can only do so much, and I urge the Sudanese government to do all in its power to keep the peace, while respecting human rights."
Read the full press release
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