Trustees Meet East Oxford MP

East Oxford MP Anneliese Dodds with WTI Trustees

WTI Trustees Mewahib Mohamed and Sam Bickersteth Meet East Oxford MP Rt Hon Anneliese Dodds

On Friday 9 May, two of our trustees, Ms. Mewahib Mohamed and Mr. Sam Bickersteth, met with Rt Hon Anneliese Dodds, the MP for East Oxford and former International Development Minister, to discuss the on-going crisis in Sudan and South Sudan, and its effect on children’s education.

Earlier this year, Ms. Mewahib Mohamed, an East Oxford constituent, wrote to Rt Hon Dodds when she was still International Development Minister, urging her to mobilise her fellow MPs and the UK government in calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Sudan. “Without a lasting ceasefire,” she wrote, “organisations such as Windle Trust International cannot re-establish operations to provide much-needed education.” She argued that it is imperative the UK Government take steps to not only provide vital humanitarian assistance but also think about the future of Sudan’s children and provide targeted funding to support learning.

Anneliese Dodds understands the situation better than many, having visited South Sudan in August 2024 within her first month in office as International Development Minister. While there, she met with WTI staff at the internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Bentiu, Unity State, where more than 100,000 people live in extreme poverty surrounded by floodwaters caused by the climate crisis. She then met with senior South Sudanese government officials in Juba, where she highlighted the need for humanitarian aid to support those fleeing the Sudanese conflict.

International Development Minister Anneliese Dodds at a WTI-supported school in Bentiu IDP camp, August 2024

Anneliese Dodds has written on our behalf to Lord Collins of Highbury, the Minister for Africa, to discuss the UK’s development plans for the region. Lord Collins responded: “Sudan remains a priority for both myself and the Foreign Secretary [David Lammy]… Specifically on education provision, the UK supports Education Cannot Wait, providing safe learning spaces and psychological support to [more than] 200,000 vulnerable children in refugee and host communities in Chad, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan, Central Africa Republic and Uganda.”

Lord Collins also highlighted the work that WTI does in East and the Horn of Africa and wrote: “We continue to be immensely grateful for the work your charity does on education provision, both in Sudan and the region. The UK will continue to shine a light on the crisis to ensure Sudan is not a forgotten war.”