Germany, Qatar, US pledge millions of dollars for Sudan aid

UN says its emergency aid programme launched after the war broke out on April 15 has received less than 16 percent of the required $2.57bn.

The United Nations is holding a meeting to raise billions of dollars for Sudan’s dire humanitarian crisis with Germany and Qatar among the first nations to pledge tens of millions of dollars.

Representatives from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the African Union, Germany, Qatar and the European Union met in Geneva on Monday to discuss helping Sudan.

“The scale and speed of Sudan’s descent into death and destruction is unprecedented,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said at the conference.

“Without strong international support, Sudan could quickly become a locus of lawlessness, radiating insecurity across the region. I appeal to you all today to provide funding to deliver life-saving humanitarian aid and support to people living in the most difficult and dangerous conditions.”

The UN says its emergency aid programme launched after the war broke out April 15 has received less than 16 percent of the required $2.57bn.

About 24.7 million people – more than half of Sudan’s population – are in need of humanitarian assistance, the UN says. An estimated 2.2 million people have fled their homes to safer areas elsewhere in Sudan or crossed into neighbouring countries.

‘Humanitarian calamity’

Germany pledged 200 million euros ($218m) of humanitarian assistance to Sudan and the region until 2024, its minister of state at the Federal Foreign Office, Katja Keul, announced.

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said the Gulf state is pledging $50m.

“There is no military solution to this conflict, only a peaceful resolution. With respect, we call on the parties to stop hostilities immediately, put the aspirations of the Sudanese people at the forefront and address the root causes of the conflict,” Sheikh Mohammed told the gathering.

The United States pledged an additional $171m in funding, said Samantha Power, administrator of the US Agency for International Development. The UN said it is allocating an additional $22m to address priority needs.

Sudan has been rocked by fighting as the regular army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces battle for control of the country.

Sudan’s health ministry says more than 3,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which has decimated the country’s fragile infrastructure and sparked ethnic violence in the western region of Darfur.

Last week Martin Griffiths, the UN’s top humanitarian official, described the situation in West Darfur as a “humanitarian calamity”.

The worst violence

The conflict has turned the capital, Khartoum, and other urban areas into battlefields. The paramilitary force, commanded by General Mohammed “Hemedti” Hamdan Dagalo, has occupied people’s houses and other civilian properties, according to residents and activists.

The army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has staged repeated air strikes in densely populated civilian areas.

West Darfur has experienced some of the worst violence with tens of thousands of residents fleeing to neighbouring Chad.

“The situation in Darfur and Khartoum is catastrophic. Fighting is raging with people attacked in their homes and on the street,” Guterres said.

The Rapid Support Forces and affiliated Arab militias have repeatedly attacked the province’s capital, el-Geneina, targeting the non-Arab Masalit community, rights groups said.

The province’s former governor, Khamis Abdalla Abkar, a Masalit, was abducted and killed last week after he appeared in a televised interview and accused the Arab militias and the paramilitary force of attacking el-Geneina. The Rapid Support Forces denied responsibility.

On Sunday morning, the country’s warring forces began a three-day ceasefire, the ninth truce since the conflict began. Most ceasefires have foundered.