US announces $203 million in new aid to war-torn Sudan amid major humanitarian crisis
UNITED NATIONS — The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations announced nearly $203 million in additional humanitarian aid to Sudan on Thursday, but warned that the money is not a “magic bullet” and urged other countries to meet their financial pledges to address what she called “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.”
World leaders more than $2.1 billion pledged provided humanitarian aid to Sudan during a donor conference in Paris in April, but US envoy Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that three months later only about a quarter of the promised funds had been received.
The northeastern African country fall into chaos in April 2023, when tensions between the country’s military and a notorious paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces, erupted into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum.
The devastating conflict has spread, particularly to western Darfur, killing more than 14,000 people and wounding 33,000 others, according to the United Nations. It has also created the world’s largest displacement crisis, with more than 11 million people forced to flee their homes.
Thomas-Greenfield said Thursday’s contribution brings total U.S. humanitarian assistance to Sudan since September 2023 to $1.6 billion, making the United States the largest single donor to Sudan.
“We hope this new round of aid is a call to action for others to follow,” she said.
The ambassador said the additional $203 million will go toward food supplies, shelters, schools and health services, as well as financial assistance for refugees to pay their rent. The funds will also help neighboring countries, where more than 2 million Sudanese refugees have fled, she said.
The US mission to the UN said Thomas-Greenfield briefed UN diplomats on the hunger crisis in Sudan, where a record 25 million people face acute food insecurity and 755,000 people face famine in the coming months, according to a recent report from the UN global network that maps the threat of famine.
Human rights experts working for the United Nations say both sides are using food and famine as weapons of war.
Thomas-Greenfield recalls visiting a hospital in Chad run by the medical charity Doctors Without Borders: “Children were so weak they didn’t even have the energy to cry.”
Global humanitarian aid organization Mercy Corps recently estimated that nine out of 10 children in central Darfur suffer from life-threatening malnutrition, where The World Food Programme has provided assistance in recent months, after experiencing difficulties negotiating access with armed groups.
Thomas-Greenfield said the US will continue diplomatic efforts to hold those responsible for the violence accountable and reach a peace agreement between the warring parties.
Last week, representatives from both parties met arrived in Geneva for separate talks with the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, Ramtane Lamamra, on the protection of civilians through possible local ceasefires.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said late Thursday that Lamamra and his team had continued to talk to each of the delegations separately this week on humanitarian assistance and protection of civilians. He said the talks were expected to conclude on Friday.
It was the second attempt at de-escalation after talks in the Saudi port city of Jeddah failed late last year.