Foreign donors have committed approximately $1.5 billion in aid to Sudan and the surrounding region as the north African nation continues to battle with internal conflict between the Army and opposing paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The donated sum is roughly half of the anticipated needs for a worsening humanitarian crisis that has driven 2.2 million people from their homes, Reuters reported.
A fundraising conference held in Geneva by Germany, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, and the United Nations aimed at soliciting funds to help humanitarian efforts impeded by ceasefire breaches, looting, and administrative restrictions.
Donors offered about $1.5 billion in pledges, according to U.N. assistance director Martin Griffiths.
“This crisis will require sustained financial support and I hope that we can all keep Sudan at the top of our priorities,” Griffiths said.
Germany contributed $218 million, while the United States contributed $171 million. The European Union donated 190 million euros, while Qatar pledged $50 million to cushion the effects of the war in Sudan.
Prior to the donor conference, a United Nations appeal for $2.57 billion in humanitarian aid for Sudan this year was about 17% funded, while an appeal for nearly $500 million for refugees fleeing Sudan was only 15% funded, a situation described as “deeply distressing” by UN refugee agency chief Filippo Grandi.
The Sudanese Army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has been fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, RSF, led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, since April 15.
The war has taken a heavier toll in West Darfur with 1,100 people killed in the capital, El Geneina alone, according to the US State Department.