The Shadow International Development Team have tabled an Early Day Motion in Parliament, with cross-party support, to congratulate South Sudan on their independence which they achieved on 9th July. The motion calls on the Government to work with other donors to set out a programme of long-term support for South Sudan.
The full text is below and can be read here - http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2010-11/2055
That this House congratulates the people of South Sudan on their independence; recognises this is a great moment of optimism and hope for South Sudan; acknowledges the huge challenges that lie ahead including the highest rate of maternal deaths in the world, non-existent infrastructure, an illiteracy rate of 92 per cent. among women and one in seven children dying before the age of five; calls on the Government to work with other donors to set out a programme of long-term support for South Sudan and to work effectively together to help build the capacity of the South Sudanese government to meet the needs of its people, to provide significant support to the health system in South Sudan and to increase access to justice; and further calls on the Government and the international community to help resolve pressing issues between North and South Sudan, including citizenship rights, finance and above all the sharing of oil, including prioritising a lasting solution to the dispute over Abyei and South Kordofan.