§ John BarrettTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the security and humanitarian situation in Sudan since the signing of the peace agreement; and if he will make a statement. [167814]
§ Hilary BennA Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement between the Government of Sudan, the Sudan Liberation Movement and the justice and Equality Movement was signed on 8 April. Humanitarian and Security Assessments in Darfur are being carried out at present by our UN and non-governmental organisation (NGO) partners. However, access is still limited in Darfur due to general insecurity a -id travel restrictions. It is therefore still too early to be able to give precise humanitarian indicators, as agencies have not yet been able to access large parts of the population. However the situation is clearly extremely serious.
In response to the crisis in Darfur DFID has committed about £9.5 million, through United Nations (UN) agencies and international NGOs. DFID has also provided four humanitarian affairs officers to assist the UN response for three months. Three of these are based in Darfur and will, among other things, undertake assessments of humanitarian needs.