Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. It is a key point we consistently make. Major conflicts are ongoing in some areas and when something else arises in other regions, they go off the agenda. The situation in Sudan and for refugees in the region is particularly difficult. We are gravely concerned about the situation. Since the outbreak of the war in April, we have emphasised the need for the protection of civilians, maintenance of humanitarian access and the cessation of hostilities. Some 25 million people now require assistance and protection. We want to target the issue of ethnicity and raise the spectre of genocide. In many of these contexts, women and children suffer the most. It is important that we continue to recognise that. Part of our ongoing work is on gender violence in a country where there is a particular bias. The Foreign Affairs Council of the EU initiated calls for sanctions to constrain the conduct of warring partners. In October, a new EU framework was agreed which targets those who attack civilians, deny access to aid and obstruct peace efforts. A problem in some of these countries is to ensure, when we provide funding, that it gets where it is needed and is not diverted somewhere along the process. Recently, I was in a country where we signed an agreement with the host minister for finance which was witnessed by the World Bank.