By Miranda Murray
BERLIN, April 15 (Reuters) – Germany will provide a further 20 million euros ($23.6 million) to Sudan this year, the development ministry said on Wednesday, ahead of an international aid conference hosted in Berlin that is aiming to gather more than $1 billion in funding commitments.
Sudan’s war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which enters its third year on Wednesday, has caused widespread hunger and displaced millions of people amid one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.
The conference was aimed at keeping attention on Sudan amid wars raging in Ukraine and Iran, whose effects are felt more acutely by European governments, and the United States’ decreased interest in humanitarian aid, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told broadcaster Deutschlandfunk on Wednesday.
NOT A QUICK FIX
“This isn’t a quick fix,” he said, “but keeping international attention on the humanitarian situation in Sudan is a substantial contribution to bringing the war to an end.”
Wadephul said Germany was speaking with both warring parties, but neither side was attending the conference because they had not agreed to a ceasefire.
The Sudanese government on Wednesday called the conference plans a “surprising and unacceptable” interference in its internal affairs and warned that engaging with paramilitary groups would undermine state sovereignty.
Germany’s development ministry said ahead of the conference that it would expand Sudan aid by 20 million euros this year after providing 155.4 million euros at the end of last year.
Germany aimed to gather funding pledges of at least $1 billion, added Wadephul.
It was not only an ethical obligation to ensure people did not face hunger, he said, but also in Germany’s interest to avoid facing a large migration influx similar to the one from the Middle East in 2015/16 as people were forced to flee.
($1 = 0.8483 euros)
(Writing by Miranda Murray; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Linda Pasquini and Alex Richardson)
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