Last week, Secretary of State for International Development, Douglas Alexander, made his first visit to Africa. He visited Sudan in order to see for himself the current situation in Darfur, and to press home the importance of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement process between the Governments of Northern and Southern Sudan.
During his visit he went to El Fasher, capital of North Darfur, where he met women and tribal elders, representatives of the approximately 150,000 internally displaced people living in the area. They asked him for help to improve the security in the region and for food, medicines and more water. He also met with the new General, overseeing the UN AMIS mission and preparing for the hybrid African Union/UN force due to be deployed later in the year. As well as this, he met with various representatives of the UN and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
The Secretary of State had full and frank discussions with the Government of Sudan. He pressed for an end to the violence in Darfur and the resettlement of villages by non-indigenous groups. He called on the Government of Sudan to support the hybrid force and the talks with rebel groups on a peace process.
He went on to Juba and met representatives from the Government of Southern Sudan and the new Multi-Donor Trust Fund, which is administered by the World Bank and supports priorities jointly established by the Government and donors. He also met with the Joint Donor Team in Juba, a highly innovative programme of mixed funding and policy making involving the UK, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Canada.
On Friday, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and President Sarkozy of France announced a joint initiative to not only help improve the immediate situation in Darfur but also to offer longer term economic assistance for development once peace is secured.
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