The European Union and the UK pledged on Tuesday to increase aid for Sudan in advance of a conference in London marking the second anniversary of a conflict that has displaced millions and devastated the northeast African country.
Britain said the conference aimed to improve the coherence of the international response to the crisis, although Sudan’s government criticised the gathering as no representative from either side of the conflict was invited.
The civil war broke out in April 2023, sparked by a power struggle between Sudan’s army and the country’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), shattering hopes for a transition to civilian rule.
Fighting has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions and devastated regions such as Darfur. It has also drawn in several foreign powers.
The EU and member states pledged more than €522 million to address the crisis while the UK announced an extra £120 million (€140 million).
British foreign secretary David Lammy said the international community had to persuade the warring parties to protect civilians and let in aid. He said 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 co-hosted the conference with the African Union, the EU, France and Germany. Egypt, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are among the other attendees.
Sudan’s foreign minister has complained to Mr Lammy, saying Sudan should have been invited, while criticising the presence of the UAE and Kenya.
Sudan accuses the UAE of arming the RSF, a charge that United Nations experts and US lawmakers have found credible. Sudan has taken a case against the UAE 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 Nairobi 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.
Organisers hope the conference will draw attention to a conflict in which the UK says 30 million people need aid and 12 million have been displaced.
A UN agency on Tuesday warned that rape was being used systematically as a weapon of war in Sudan.
Luca Renda, the UN Development Programme resident representative in Sudan, told reporters there was hope for “a more co-ordinated and coherent approach of the international community”, adding: “Sudanese people are tired of this war.”
In a statement the German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said: “The greatest humanitarian catastrophe of our time is unfolding before the eyes of the world.”
On Tuesday, lawyers for Sudanese victims 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
