Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2014-06-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what efforts they have made to support press freedoms in Sudan; and what role they consider such freedoms can play in the promotion of the National Dialogue process.

Baroness Warsi

Freedom of expression and an independent media are vital components of a genuinely open and transparent National Dialogue process. Our Embassy in Khartoum regularly raises this in discussions with the Sudanese Authorities, and jointly with the British Council is funding the Thompson Foundation programme to build capacity for Sudanese journalism. Examples include media training and a sponsored visit to London by Sudanese newspaper editors. During his visit to Sudan in January the Minister for Africa, my Hon Friend the Member for Boston and Skegness (Mr Simmonds), met Sudanese journalists and editors and stressed to senior members of the Sudanese government the importance of open democratic space and respect for fundamental freedoms.