At a meeting in Paris on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that donors had donated more than 2 billion euros ($2.13 billion) for the war-torn country of Sudan. This comes on the first anniversary of a battle that humanitarian workers characterize as overlooked but deadly.
The ongoing fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), restrictions imposed by the warring parties, and demands made on donors by other global crises such as those in Gaza and Ukraine have hindered efforts to aid millions of people driven to the brink of famine by the war.
Fighting is intensifying in and around al-Fashir, a beleaguered humanitarian center and the last city in the western Darfur region that has not been taken over by the RSF, raising fears that the conflict in Sudan may spread. Hundreds of thousands of displaced people have sought refuge in the area.
Bashir Awad, a resident of Omdurman, a vital battleground and part of the larger city, told Reuters last week that “the world is busy with other countries.” “We had to rely on God, help ourselves, and share meals with one another.”
The co-sponsors, France and Germany, contributed 110 million and 244 million euros, respectively, to the 350 million euros that the EU promised in Paris. Britain promised $110 million, and the United States $147 million.
Macron underlined the necessity of coordinating overlapping and thus far ineffective international efforts to resolve the conflict and to halt foreign backing for the warring groups in his closing remarks to the gathering, which featured civilian players from Sudan.
The UN has mobilized $2.7 billion for aid in Sudan, aiming to help 25 million people in need. The war between the Sudanese army and the RSF has crippled infrastructure, displaced over 8.5 million people, and cut off access to food supplies and basic services. The UN is seeking $1.4 billion for assistance in neighboring countries that have housed hundreds of thousands of refugees. However, the international aid effort faces obstacles to gaining access on the ground, as the army refuses to allow aid into the country controlled by its foes from the RSF.
Aid agencies accuse the RSF of looting aid, but both sides deny holding up relief. The UN has also accused the military factions of war crimes, with each side accusing the RSF and its allies of ethnic cleansing in West Darfur. In al-Fashir, local activists reported that 40,000 people had fled their homes after the RSF and allied militias raided and set fire to villages, killing at least 11. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that any attack on al-Fashir could lead to “full-blown intercommunal conflict” in Darfur.
(Reuters)
