EU and UK commit further aid for Sudan

London — The EU and the UK on Tuesday pledged to increase aid for Sudan, ahead of a conference in London marking the second anniversary of a conflict that has displaced millions of people and devastated the country.

Britain said the conference aimed to improve the coherence of the international response to the crisis, though Sudan’s government criticised the gathering because no representative from either side of the conflict was invited.

The war in Sudan erupted in April 2023, sparked by a power struggle between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), shattering hopes for a transition to civilian rule.

It has killed tens of thousands people, displaced millions and devastated regions such as Darfur. It has also drawn in several foreign powers.

The EU and member states pledged more than €522m to address the crisis while the UK announced an additional £120m in aid.

UK foreign secretary David Lammy said the international community had to persuade the warring parties to protect civilians and allow aid, adding he hoped the conference would establish principles for future engagement.

"We do need patient diplomacy," he told delegates at the start of the conference. "We cannot resign ourselves to inevitable conflict. We cannot be back here, one year from now, having the same discussion."

Britain is co-hosting the conference with the AU, the EU, France and Germany. Egypt, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are among the other attendees.

Sudan’s foreign minister told Lammy Sudan ought to have been invited and criticised the presence of the UAE and Kenya.

Sudan accuses the UAE of arming the RSF, a charge that UN experts and US legislators have found credible. It has taken a case against it to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The UAE has denied the allegation and asked for the case to be thrown out.

Sudan also recalled its envoy to Kenya after it hosted talks between the RSF and its allies to form a parallel government.

Lana Nusseibeh, assistant minister for political affairs at the UAE’s foreign ministry, said both sides were committing atrocities and aid was being deliberately blocked.

"As Sudan's devastating war enters its third year, the United Arab Emirates issues an urgent call for peace," she said in a statement.

Devastation

Organisers hope the conference will draw attention to a conflict where the UK says 30-million people desperately need aid and 12 -million have been displaced.

A UN agency on Tuesday warned that rape is being used systematically as a weapon in the war.

Luca Renda, the UNDP resident representative in Sudan, said there was hope for "a more co-ordinated and coherent approach of the international community," adding "the Sudanese people are tired of this war".

"The greatest humanitarian catastrophe of our time is unfolding before the eyes of the world," German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said in a statement.

On Tuesday, lawyers acting for Sudanese victims also submitted a 141-page dossier outlining alleged war crimes committed by the RSF to the UK police’s special war crimes unit, with a request to pass the file to the International Criminal Court, which has jurisdiction over atrocity crimes in Darfur.

Reuters