World donors pledge mlns in aid for Sudan
PARIS, April 16, (Agencies): French President
announced Monday that world donors are pledging more than 2 billion euros in aid for Sudan after a yearlong war that has pushed its population to the brink of famine.
Macron spoke at the end of an international conference in Paris aimed at drumming up support for Sudan’s people. He did not give a detailed timeline or breakdown of the funding.
In a final statement, top diplomatic envoys, UN officials and aid agencies gathered at the conference also urged Sudan’s warring parties to stop rights violations and allow access for humanitarian aid. Members of Sudan’s civil society took part in the Paris meeting, but neither the Sudanese army nor its rival paramilitary were represented.
Sudan descended into conflict in April last year when simmering tensions between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere across the country.
Macron called it “one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world,’’ that has created a ‘’real risk of famine.’’
Macron
The United Nations’ humanitarian campaign needs some $2.7 billion this year to get food, health care and other supplies to 24 million people in Sudan - nearly half its population of 51 million. So far, funders have given only $145 million, about 5%, according to the UN’s humanitarian office, known as OCHA.
After Monday’s conference, Macron said, ‘’We are today at 2 billion euros for Sudan.’’
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres urged the international community to donate generously and support the UN life-saving efforts to help Sudanese people, trapped in the “nightmare of bloodshed.”
More than 14,000 people have been killed and at least 33,000 have been wounded in a yearlong war. Nearly 9 million people have been forced to flee their homes either to safer areas inside Sudan or to neighboring countries, according to the UN Hunger, sexual violence against women and girls and continued displacement are rampant and much of the country’s infrastructure - homes, hospitals and schools - has been reduced to rubble
“We cannot let this nightmare slide from view,” Guterres said in a video message to the Paris conference.
“It’s time to support the Sudanese people. It’s time to silence the guns,” he added.
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said the aim of the conference was to mobilize humanitarian funding to help Sudanese people, who have been victims of both a “terrible war” and “international indifference.”
“It’s a colossal task,” Sejourne said. “It’s a war the Sudanese people did not want, a war that only produces chaos and suffering.”
The European Union’s crisis management commissioner, Janez Lenarcic, said the 27-member bloc wants to ensure that Sudan is not forgotten as wars in Gaza and Ukraine dominate the international news.
“People of Sudan, caught up in this emergency, are almost completely invisible,” Lenarcic said. Sudan has turned into one of the worst humanitarian disasters ever on the African continent, he said, and added: “It is our duty not to look away.”
President of the International Committee of the Red Cross Mirjana Spoljaric warned that humanitarian action is increasingly politicized in Sudan and humanitarian workers are risking their lives to get vital aid to people. She urged all sides in the war to facilitate a “safe, rapid, and unimpeded passage of humanitarian personnel and goods, into and within Sudan, through all available routes.”
“Securing a military advantage cannot be pursued regardless of the human cost,” Spoljaric said.
The United States and Saudi Arabia initially led efforts to find a negotiated way out of the conflict. But the efforts did not succeed, and since October the fighting has been overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, which is threatening to expand into a broader regional conflict.
GENEVA:
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
warned on Monday of a further escalation in violence in Sudan as parties to the conflict arm civilians and more armed groups join the fighting.
On the first anniversary of the outbreak of the armed conflict, Turk issued a statement from Geneva calling for an end to the conflict and the suffering of civilians.
Turk expressed concern about the recruitment of children in the conflict, arming civilians, as the increase of indiscriminate attacks in densely populated areas, as well as ethnically motivated attacks.
He denounced the recent arrest warrants issued against leading civilian figures including former Prime Minister on charges that he said “do not appear to be substantiated” and some of which carry the death penalty.
“The Sudanese authorities must immediately revoke the arrest warrants against Hamdok and other civilian leaders and prioritize confidence-building measures towards a ceasefire as a first step followed by a comprehensive resolution of the conflict and the restoration of a civilian government” he added.
Volker Turk Abdallah Hamdok ❑ KINSHASA, Congo: Needs Mobilize Also: ❑ ❑
Extremist-linked rebels attacked villages in eastern Congo over the weekend, killing at least 11 people, torching vehicles and taking possessions, a local official said.
The attacks occurred Saturday and were reported by the local mayor on Sunday. Allied Democratic Forces rebels with ties to the Islamic State group have long operated in the border area near The United Nations said earlier this month that almost 200 people have been killed there this year.
In one area, 11 bodies were recovered from four different places in the commune of according to the mayor, Mulekera is near town in province.
Eastern Congo has been ravaged by conflict for decades as more than 120 armed groups fight for control of valuable mineral resources and some try to protect their communities. Mass killings by rebels are frequent. The violence has led over 7 million people to flee their homes, the UN has said.
Uganda. Mulekera, Ngongo Mayanga. North Kivu Emmanuel
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