After a year-long war in Sudan that has almost pushed its people into famine, donors across the globe have pledged to donate $2.1 billion in aid.
AP reports that French President Emmanuel Macron said this at the end of an international conference in Paris aimed at getting support for Sudan’s 51 million people. The aid aims to procure food, water, medicines and other urgent needs.
Diplomatic envoys, UN officials, and aid agencies pleaded with the warring parties to refrain from attacking civilians and allow for humanitarian aid. They also called for urgent intended national mediation efforts toward peace. Members of Sudan’s civil society participated in the Paris meeting. However, the Sudanese military and its rival paramilitary did not show up.
The conflict in Sudan started in April last year when simmering tensions between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces exploded into open fighting in Khartoum and some other places in the country.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, said, “Much of the world has been focused on the crisis that was generated in the Middle East. As concerning as those developments are, other dramatic life-and-death emergencies are being pushed into the shadows.”
He concluded that “the world is forgetting about the people of Sudan,” which has 24 million people. As of Monday’s meeting, $2.1 billion had been pledged.
