Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 365: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the discussions he has had with the Government of Sudan on attitudes towards women there; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4039/07]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I am especially concerned at the increased rate of rape and gender based violence in parts of Darfur and the lack of progress being made by courts there to address these crimes as detailed in the UN Secretary General's report of 28 December 2006. Since 2003, gender based violence targeted at women and girls has been a consistent feature of the conflict in Darfur. Women have been raped during attacks on their villages, while fleeing such attacks and within camps for the displaced. Sexual assaults against female international aid workers have also occurred recently. A staff member of a French humanitarian agency, based in a rebel-controlled town in Southern Darfur, is reported to have been raped in December 2006 and in January 2007 a female UN staff member is reported to have been sexually assaulted by Sudanese police.

In my meetings with the Sudanese Foreign Minister, Lam Akol, in July and September 2006, I underlined the importance of ensuring that the vulnerable in Darfur have full and unimpeded access to humanitarian support and protection. I also urged similar action in discussions with key international actors with a capacity to influence Sudan, most recently in my meetings with the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Aboul Gheit, and the Arab League Secretary-General, Amr Mussa, in Cairo on 1 February 2007.

Irish Aid assistance to Sudan, which totals €33 million since 2004, has mainly funded humanitarian activities to aid those affected by conflict, including large numbers of women and girls. This funding includes €3 million provided to support the work of the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS), which has largely been used for the recruitment of humanitarian and human rights monitors and the construction of protective police posts in camps for internally displaced people in Darfur.

Ireland urged the holding of the UN Human Rights Council Special Session on Darfur, which took place on 12 December 2006, and we supported the NGO forum that was held in its margins. Our intervention at the Special Session noted how women and girls have been persistently made victims of sexual violence, while gender based violence was the first of the topics dealt with by the NGO forum. We encouraged the Special Session to dispatch a fact finding mission to Darfur, which is expected to arrive in Sudan within days. Ireland has also requested that the increasing use of violence against women as a weapon of war be included in the EU's statement at the upcoming annual meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, specifically raising the issue of complicity by governments who take no action against perpetrators of violence against women and the aura of impunity which this creates.

In late 2004, in response to the appalling levels of gender based violence in Darfur, Irish Aid and a number of Irish and international NGOs, including Amnesty International, formed the Joint Consortium on Gender Based Violence, which has begun working on Gender Based Violence as an international problem and now includes the Defence Forces among its members. The consortium's report on Darfur was discussed with its Special Adviser, former President Mrs. Mary Robinson, at a meeting in the Department of Foreign Affairs in November 2006 and a strategy to implement its recommendations is now being finalised.

While the situation is most acute in Darfur, the position of women in the Sudan as a whole remains a matter of concern. The United Nations Children's fund (UNICEF) has estimated that almost 90% of Sudan's female population are subjected to female genital mutilation, often in its most severe forms. This occurs despite a commitment by the Government of Sudan to eradicate this dreadful practice. While Sudan's interim national constitution guarantees respect for fundamental human rights, the authorities have not yet adhered to the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. EU Embassies in Khartoum maintain a regular dialogue with Sudan on human rights issues at which these key issues are addressed.