To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the context of the referendum in South Sudan in 2011, what steps they will take to assist in preparing for the consequences of greater autonomy for South Sudan.

My Lords, we are committed to supporting the south Sudan referendum in January 2011. We will continue to support institution building and development work in south Sudan, both before and after the referendum irrespective of its outcome. We will work with our international partners to press both parties to reach an agreement on critical issues including oil sharing, debt and border demarcation. We will also work with others to tackle corruption and encourage international business investment in south Sudan.

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her reply and for her commitment over many years to Sudan. Would she agree that it is essential, immediately after the April elections, that leaders from north and south sit down to work out arrangements after the referendum, whatever the outcome, whether the people vote for unity or for secession? Are they not expecting all of us in the international community to take part in these arrangements? If they are not able to look forward, many of them will turn back to violence.

I thank the noble Earl and pay tribute to his work and commitment to Sudan. He is absolutely right to say that this is a critical year for Sudan. It is vital that the gains from the past five years of peace are not lost and can be built upon. The south must decide its own future in a referendum and, whatever the results of that referendum, it must be respected by all the parties and also by the international community. There will continue to be risks and uncertainties, and undoubtedly there will be delays, too. I reassure the noble Lord that, in recent days, we have seen a deal being made on the census and an agreement to provide extra seats in the national assembly, a code of conduct and so on. The international community has to play a serious and committed supporting role in all those processes. For that reason, we are upgrading our role in the south.

Will there be a more proactive role for UNMIS in south Sudan, particularly in the conflict zones of Jonglei and the Lake state? That would seem to be within the mandate of UNSCR 1590. Is the Minister doing anything to promote enhanced assistance to the Government of south Sudan for security sector reform, particularly for the enhancement of the capacity of the south Sudan police service?

I can reassure the noble Lord on UNMIS; we continue to support peacekeeping in Sudan and work very closely with UNMIS, which has a key role to play around the elections, as well as up to the referendum in January 2011. There will be that hiatus between the election and the referendum, when it will be very important for UNMIS to be very active.

In the UN Security Council consultations and in meeting the new Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Haile Menkerios, the UK has emphasised and will continue to emphasise the importance of UNMIS in protecting civilians during this crucial time. Of course, the noble Lord is correct in drawing attention to the need for security at this time, as people need to feel confident that they can go about their business and that peace can be protected, as well as being able to be sure that their right to vote will take place in a peaceful way, without the beginning of any more conflict or tension in the south, where it is always possible that that may occur.

When I was in southern Sudan two weeks’ ago, the Government of southern Sudan expressed great appreciation of the Minister’s recent visit and of all the aid that Britain is giving in humanitarian assistance and capacity building. Is the Minister aware that southern Sudan suffers from a humanitarian crisis, with one in seven children dying before the age of five and one in seven mothers dying in childbirth and with only 20 per cent immunisation? Could DfID take an overview of the distribution of aid to ensure that it reaches all those in need, both to save lives and promote stability before the elections and referendum in the south?

I thank the noble Baroness. She makes the very important point that support for south Sudan and its Government is very important. We will provide approximately half of our £140 million development assistance for 2010-11 to south Sudan. UK funding will cover basic services, primary education, support for health infrastructure, along with efforts that will be made with water and sanitation. When I was in south Sudan recently, I was able to see the enormous needs that people have there. After the conflict, with the suffering that they have experienced in that country, they will expect to see a peace dividend. We all have to work together to ensure that we increase our staff in Juba and increase our support for the Government of south Sudan.

Would the Minister agree—as I am sure that she would—that, as we are a co-guarantor of the comprehensive peace agreement in the area, we have a special duty to do everything that we can to preserve the admittedly fragile peace in time for a referendum to take place? In the longer term, looking to the more optimistic side, would she agree that if, and when, southern Sudan opts through a referendum to be an autonomous, separate country, as seems quite likely, there is a potential future that we should encourage of working very closely with neighbouring Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in a sort of revived east African federation, which would really bring substantial prosperity and development to the whole region, where at present we just have bloodshed and war?

I thank the noble Lord. Indeed, I was in Uganda last week and raised exactly those issues with the President and others. They are very well aware of their need to focus on the needs of south Sudan. I was also struck that Kenya’s Prime Minister Odinga is very engaged as well. We can feel reassured that there is a strong political push now behind ensuring that that huge country which they border has the kind of stability and security that will only be possible if they engage with south Sudan and with whatever happens after the referendum.