Donors pledge $1.8bn for Sudan
Germany convened a donor conference on Sudan and nearly $1.8 billion was pledged to ease the hunger crisis, but neither of the main warring parties attended the talks. (reuters.com) Aid officials and analysts warned that the funding cannot replace a political solution, with observers describing the conflict as increasingly an 'abandoned crisis' as displacement and casualties mount. (apnews.com) Donors framed the meeting as an effort to plug catastrophic funding shortfalls even as diplomatic progress remains elusive. (theguardian.com)
Donor governments pledged more than €1.3 billion, about $1.8 billion, for Sudan at a Berlin conference on April 15 as the war entered its fourth year. (rte.ie) Germany hosted the meeting with the African Union, the European Union, France, the United Kingdom and the United States. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Germany would contribute €230 million, while Reuters reported Berlin had already approved an extra €20 million for 2026 and was reviewing more. (euronews.com) (usnews.com) Neither the Sudanese Armed Forces nor the Rapid Support Forces attended. Organizers said the talks were built around humanitarian aid and civilian voices rather than direct peace negotiations. (euronews.com) The money arrives with Sudan facing what United Nations officials call the world’s worst humanitarian and displacement crises. United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher told the Berlin meeting that roughly 34 million people need assistance, nearly 14 million have been displaced and 19 million are going hungry. (news.un.org) Associated Press reported that 13 million people have fled their homes and at least 59,000 people have been killed since fighting began on April 15, 2023, after a power struggle between army chief Abdel-Fattah Burhan and Rapid Support Forces commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. (abcnews.com) Aid agencies say cash alone cannot stop the collapse because access, security and diplomacy are still broken. Fletcher said drones have killed 700 people this year and 130 humanitarians have been killed over three years. (news.un.org) The Sudanese government rejected the Berlin format before the meeting began. It called the conference “unacceptable” interference and said Germany had not consulted Khartoum before convening it. (france24.com) Diplomatic efforts have stalled through similar meetings in London and Paris over the past two years. Reuters and other outlets said Berlin’s goal was to plug a major funding gap while trying to revive talks that still have no ceasefire to build on. (rte.ie) (euronews.com) Some parts of Khartoum have reopened since the army retook the capital last year, with markets back, traffic returning and school exams held this week. But United Nations figures cited by RTÉ said around 1.8 million returnees are moving through a city still littered with unexploded ordnance. (rte.ie) The Berlin pledges buy food, medicine and time. They do not put Sudan’s two armed rivals in the same room. (euronews.com) (france24.com)
