§ 40. Mr. Tom Coxasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the present amount of aid given by the Government to the Sudan.
§ Mr. RaisonBritish bilateral development aid to Sudan in the last financial year amounted to £27.5 million. We expect to spend about the same amount in 1985–86. We have also provided more than £29 million on bilateral famine relief for Sudan since October 1984, including over £10 million through voluntary agencies. Following my visit to Sudan earlier this month, I have agreed to make a further £5 million available through the Save the Children Fund, mainly to meet the costs of urgent food distribution in Darfur. In addition, I am allocating £200,000 to Oxfam for emergency work in the Red sea province and the south.
§ Mr. CoxI thank the Minister very much for that reply, and especially for the fact that he has agreed to give money to the Save the Children Fund. In view of the superb work done by the fund in appalling conditions in Sudan, I am sure that his support will be warmly welcomed, not only in the House, but outside. I hope the right hon. Gentleman will assure us that the support will continue if the need exists.
§ Mr. RaisonI am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his kind words. He might like to know that the £5 million that I have just announced, together with another £1 772 million that I announced a short time ago, will make it possible to distribute within Darfur 110,000 tonnes of badly needed food.
§ Mr. MoynihanDoes my right hon. Friend agree that development projects such as the Equatoria region agricultural scheme, which he recently visited, are the sorts of projects that could be developed elsewhere in Sudan?
§ Mr. RaisonI agree with my hon. Friend. I have just visited that project. It is an excellent project and it is the sort of thing that we are looking to do elsewhere.
§ Mr. Stuart HollandOne of the critical issues in the Sudan is whether there is adequate fuel for food aid distribution. What did the right hon. Gentleman learn about that on his recent visit? Shall we find, as we did last time, that he will be overtaken by Bob Geldof's transport convoys in getting the food distributed?
§ Mr. RaisonThe hon. Gentleman is being ludicrous about this matter. Bob Geldof has done a very good job, but the British aid programme to Sudan has made a substantial contribution, both short-term and long-term. One of the factors that we are examining is the provision of fuel wood.