HC Deb 03 July 1998 vol 315 c332W
Dr. Tonge

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what levels of aid have been given to Sudan in each month between September 1997 and May 1998. [48903]

Clare Short

The table of monthly aid expenditure to Sudan is as follows:

Month Expenditure (£)
September 1997 2,063,508
October 1997 164,334
November 1997 103,435
December 1997 296,091
January 1998 136,094
February 1998 12,137,807
March 1998 1,285,141
Prior year payments 9,787
April 1998 454,926
May 1998 233,670
Total September-May 6,884,793
June 1998 3,648,824
Total September-June 10,533,617
1 Includes £1.9 million allocated from the UK Bilateral General Account held by the World Food Programme to support its food aid operations in Sudan

Funds are paid to international NGOs and United Nations agencies against clear evidence of need and a detailed budget. Further payments totalling £13 million to the World Food Programme and ICRC will appear in the July figures. We are also considering commitments of up to £5 million to NGOs operating in other vulnerable regions of Sudan.

Dr. Tonge

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations her Department received from which NGOs in each month between September 1997 and May 1998 concerning the situation in Southern Sudan. [48902]

Clare Short

Southern Sudan faces chronic problems every year. This year's problems were greatly aggravated by the fact that access to vulnerable populations was not possible in February and March.

The first formal indications of an impending crisis were contained in the FAO Crop Assessment Report dated December 1997 incorporated into the draft 1998 UN Consolidated Appeal for Sudan. We have been in regular contact with NGOs working in Sudan. World Vision (WV), Save the Children Fund (SCF) and Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) first expressed their concern about Bahr El Ghazal in February and we provided support for their emergency programmes.

In May we approved funding for further humanitarian activities by SCF, MSF, CARE and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Other proposals were received from Christian Aid/CAFOD, SCF, ACROSS, TearFund, GOAL, WV and Norwegian People's Aid.