Sudan: Elections Mr. Drew To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funding his Department has made available to the government of (a) Sudan and (b) Southern Sudan to assist preparations for the forthcoming (i) elections and (ii) referendum. Mr. Thomas The Department for International Development (DFID) does not provide any funds directly to the Government of Sudan or the Government of Southern Sudan. However, we have supported preparations for the election since 2007 through alternative means. DFID has spent £2.95 million providing training to the media and domestic observation groups as well as technical assistance on civic education and conflict management. We have also contributed £1.5 million to the Elections Basket Fund, managed by UN Development programme (UNDP). This fund provides support to all aspects of the electoral process, and continues the focus on civic and voter education and conflict prevention. On 6 January 2010, the UK announced a further £8.05 million contribution to the Elections Basket Fund, bringing our total contribution to support elections in Sudan to £12.5 million. The UK is looking into kind of what assistance we can provide to support the referendum due to take place in 2010. We continue to discuss the nature and co-ordination of this support with the parties in Sudan and all our international partners.