Lynne Featherstone MP writes… First ever Lib Dem DFID Minister, first trip to Africa

By Lynne Featherstone MP | Mon 22nd October 2012 - 7:50 am

A month after taking up my new role as Minister for Africa in the Department for International Development, I’m currently on my first trip to the continent – South Sudan, via an overnight stop in Kenya.

Though I’ve actually been to Africa in my role as International Champion for Tackling Violence against Women Overseas, a role I’ve held since soon after the Coalition was formed, I’m anxious to see first-hand the work that DFID does toward alleviating suffering, bettering people’s lives and working with partner governments to improve their ability to function more effectively.

South Sudan – where I’ll be spending the next few days – is the world’s newest country, gaining independence from Sudan in July 2011. It was a long road to independence, and unfortunately it’s another long road ahead to stability.

Years of civil war have left South Sudanese society deeply fragmented. Their government is currently facing multiple humanitarian crises – hundreds of thousands of internally displaced, hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing fighting in the north, and yet more thousands affected by seasonal floods. And, shockingly, a 15 year old girl is more likely to die in childbirth than complete secondary education.

It puts our economic and inequality troubles into perspective.

I’m sure I will learn an incredible amount over the next few days, and I’m keen to share these lessons with you. I’ll be tweeting and blogging as often as I can, so do follow the progress of my trip!

* Lynne Featherstone is a minister at the Department for International Development and blogs at www.lynnefeatherstone.org.

2 Comments

Jeanette Aron 22nd Oct '12 - 8:23am

I wish you well with your trip Lynne. I’m off to the Gambia next week working with the charities I help to support. The road does not end even with stability.
Andrew Wigley 22nd Oct '12 - 9:07am

The road ahead for South Sudan is thwart with challenges, and there is a striking parallel with Eritrea, which secured its independence in 1993. When Eritrea successfully won its right for independence following a brutal war with Ethiopia, the early signs indicated a rosy future. Sadly, once independence came and went, the world simply forgot.

A pluralist society has clearly failed to take hold. Political intimidation and human rights violations have been commonplace. There are no privately owned media; when it comes to press freedoms, a recent report placed Eritrea lower than North Korea.

Let’s hope that the Republic of South Sudan isn’t forgotten by international (especially African) partners in the coming years. Let’s not underestimate the importance of Lynne’s visit as an important signal of support to this fledgling state. It would be a tragedy to see the hard-won gains of independence undermined in any way by foreign interference (note Sudan) or the misconduct of the incoming political elites.

As an Eritrean proverb reminds us: “When dreams are shattered, they itch like scabies on the buttocks.”

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