Donors hope to raise more than $1 bln for Sudan a year into war

Efforts to help millions of people driven to the verge of famine by the war have been held up by continued fighting, restrictions imposed by the warring sides, and demands on donors from other global disasters. Conflict in Sudan is threatening to expand, with fighting heating up in and around al-Fashir, a besieged aid hub and the last city in the western Darfur region not taken over by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Donors will hopefully pledge "well over a billion euros," ($1.07 billion) for war-torn Sudan at a conference in Paris on Monday, a diplomatic source said, on the first anniversary of what aid workers describe as a neglected but devastating conflict. Efforts to help millions of people driven to the verge of famine by the war have been held up by continued fighting, restrictions imposed by the warring sides, and demands on donors from other global disasters.

Conflict in Sudan is threatening to expand, with fighting heating up in and around al-Fashir, a besieged aid hub and the last city in the western Darfur region not taken over by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Hundreds of thousands of displaced people have sought refuge in the area. "It is obvious that the series of crises - I am thinking of Gaza and Ukraine - have pushed the Sudanese crisis into the background," French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné said at the Paris conference.

The EU will pledge 350 million euros, while France will add 110 million euros, three sources said. The United States will invest a total of $147 million, they added. Germany pledged 244 million euros earlier on Monday. "I hope [the funds raised] will be well over a billion euros," the French diplomatic source said, without specifying where the rest of the money will come from.

AID EFFORTS IMPEDED "We can manage together to avoid a terrible famine catastrophe, but only if we get active together now," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said, adding that, in the worst-case scenario, one million people could die of hunger this year.

The United Nations is seeking $2.7 billion this year for aid inside Sudan, where 25 million people need assistance, an appeal that was just 6% funded before the Paris meeting. It is seeking another $1.4 billion for assistance in neighbouring countries that have housed hundreds of thousands of refugees. The international aid effort also faces obstacles in gaining access to the country due to problems obtaining visas and permits from the army and allied government authorities, and the risk of looting in RSF-controlled areas.

On Friday, Sudan's army-aligned foreign ministry protested that it had not been invited to the conference. "We must remind the organisers that the international guardianship system has been abolished for decades," it said in a statement. The army has said it would not allow aid into the wide swathes of the country controlled by its foes from the RSF. Aid agencies have accused the RSF of looting aid. Both sides have denied holding up relief.

'DEPEND ON GOD' The war in Sudan, which broke out on April 15, 2023, between the Sudanese army and the RSF, has devastated infrastructure, prompted warnings of famine and displaced millions of people inside and outside Sudan.

The factions, who were uneasy partners in the toppling of President Omar al-Bashir in 2019 and the overthrow of a government in 2021, competed to protect their interests during a planned political transition back to civilian rule. Thousands of civilians have been killed, though death toll estimates are highly uncertain. Each side has been accused of war crimes, and the RSF and its allies have been blamed for ethnic cleansing in West Darfur. Both factions have largely denied the accusations against them.

The World Health Organization said on Friday that the crisis could worsen in the coming months as the distribution of humanitarian aid and medical supplies remains restricted. "The world is busy with other countries," Bashir Awad, a resident of Omdurman, part of the wider capital and a key battleground, told Reuters last week. "We had to help ourselves, share food with each other, and depend on God."

In al-Fashir on Saturday, local activists reported that 40,000 people had fled their homes after RSF and allied militias raided and set fire to villages on the western outskirts of the city, killing at least 11. The next day, fighting in the city including airstrikes by the army killed nine and injured 60, they said.

($1 = 0.9384 euros)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)