---

Darfur Crisis

The hon. Gentleman is probably much more knowledgeable than I am. It is quite likely—my right hon. Friend will arbitrate between us—that the September conference has been brought forward to June, which can only be a good thing. The hon. Gentleman knows as well as I do that dates slip and move forward occasionally. The main thing is that the world is engaged and that matters are properly organised, because we have only one chance to get it right. On the comprehensive peace agreement, for the Darfur-to-Darfur dialogue to stand any chance, we must learn from what has been going on in the south. It is early days there, but all the evidence is that the only chance for long-term peace in Darfur is if we develop not just a political solution, but one in which civil society has a specific mandate and responsibilities. It must play its role in a way that will, over time, bring about a normalisation of events on the ground. Given the history of the area, what is normal is very difficult to understand from our western point of view, but we have to work incredibly hard to build up the things that will prove that we are making a difference to people’s lives in education, health, social services and how people are catered for. That simply has never occurred, and that has been the stimulus for people taking up arms, because they think, ““What difference does it make? We might as well fight for what we believe we can achieve,”” rather than see a growing dialogue. I would be interested to know a bit more about how we are learning from the south-to-south dialogue, primitive as it might be, in relation to the Darfur-to-Darfur dialogue, and how genuinely civil society can grow, take its part, take responsibility and be given a real role, given that the history of Sudan tells us that the Sudanese Government will start interfering. I expect that the hon. Member for Buckingham will have something to say on that. I leave things on a negative note, because my speech has been largely positive. We have all learned to our cost that what the Government of Sudan say is not necessarily the whole truth or something that we can take as read. It would be good to hear that the inclusion of Ministers from the SPLM into the Government is beginning to make a difference, and that the Government, with their unified command, can be trusted to deliver the things that the world—not just the UK or EU—expects of them. We know why Sudan did not get the presidency of the AU. If the Government of Sudan want to achieve that status in the future, they must be able to deliver not only the words but the actions on the ground. That is very important, and I hope that we can trust them to do that.