Donor countries meeting on Wednesday in Berlin at the third international conference on Sudan have pledged more than €1.3 billion ($1.5 billion) in humanitarian aid for the war-torn country.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said this year’s commitments would help “alleviate somewhat the suffering of people in Sudan” and save lives, adding that donors were also showing “that this conflict has not been forgotten.”
He also backed a call by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk for a comprehensive arms embargo on Sudan. The United Nations had already adopted such a measure, he noted, but added that “the problem, as with this conflict in general, is how to implement it in practice.”
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Sudan, Africa’s third-largest country, has been gripped by a bloody civil war for three years, triggering what the United Nations describes as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
More than 11.6 million people are currently displaced in Sudan and neighbouring countries, while over 19 million face hunger. According to the UN, humanitarian operations in Sudan have so far received only about 16% of the funding required this year.
Johann Wadephul, German Foreign Minister, speaks at the start of the International Sudan Conference at the Federal Foreign Office. The conference in Berlin consists of a meeting of foreign ministers, a humanitarian conference with funding commitments and a meeting of civilian actors to negotiate a peace roadmap. Michael Kappeler/dpa