France is hosting an international conference on Sudan on Monday, marking one year since the outbreak of war in the northeast African country, sparking a humanitarian and political crisis. Seeking contributions from the international community, France aims to draw attention to a crisis overshadowed by ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.
Accompanied by talks on political matters, a ministerial meeting will address the humanitarian situation in Sudan. Organizers anticipate the participation of dozens of representatives from Sudan’s civil society.
“The idea is to move this crisis up to the top of the agenda,” stated Christophe Lemoine, a spokesman for the French foreign ministry.
“We cannot let Sudan become a forgotten crisis,” he added.
Officials highlighted not only humanitarian concerns but also political risks, including the potential fragmentation of Sudan into splinter states.
“Sudan is experiencing ‘one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent memory’ and ‘the largest internal displacement crisis in the world,’ the United Nations said recently.
Aid workers say a year of war between rival generals that broke out on April 15, 2023, has led to a catastrophe, but the world has turned away from the country of 48 million.
‘The civilians here are enduring starvation, mass sexual violence, large-scale ethnic killing, and executions,’ said Will Carter, Sudan country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council.”
“Millions more are displaced, and yet the world continues to look the other way.”
An estimated 1.8 million people have fled Sudan — many to neighboring Chad, now also suffering a humanitarian crisis — and 6.7 million have been internally displaced.
Only five percent of the 3.8-billion-euro ($4.1 billion) target in the UN’s latest humanitarian appeal has been funded so far this year, according to the French foreign ministry.
“We don’t have the ambition to cover the whole sum, but we have hope that the international community wakes up,” said one ministry official.
The ministerial meeting, behind closed doors, notably brings together representatives from Sudan’s neighbors, as well as from Gulf nations and western powers, including the United States and Britain, along with regional organizations and the UN.
Meanwhile, actors from Sudan’s civil society, including activists, unionists, and journalists, will get together to discuss “a possible peace process, and what happens after the war,” an official said.
Laetitia Bader, from the NGO Human Rights Watch, expressed hope that the conference would deliver “a very tough message” to the belligerents, including threats of sanctions.
She pointed out that the warring parties had blocked access for humanitarian assistance, pillaged foreign financial aid, and targeted humanitarian workers in attacks.
“This conference is very important, but it should not become an excuse to turn the page and forget about Sudan, again,” she added.
