US to make additional funding push in response to Sudan conflict

Smoke rises above buildings after an aerial bombardment during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan on May 1, 2023. PHOTO | REUTERS

By REUTERS

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The US will make a push of more than a hundred million in additional funding to

respond to the conflict in Sudan as Washington seeks to spur international response at a donor conference on the humanitarian crisis this month, the US Special Envoy to the country said on Wednesday.

Special Envoy Tom Perriello said he hopes that partners around the world will put greater priority on the Sudanese civil war and that more countries will step up at a donor conference in Paris on April 15.

The date marks a year since the conflict erupted after long-simmering tensions erupted into heavy fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Read: Why outsiders won't let Sudan enjoy prosperity

"The international response has been pitiful. We're at 5 percent of the needed amount," said Perriello, adding that the US has already committed over a billion dollars in humanitarian relief to the conflict.

"We'll be doing another nine-figure push around this," he said, without elaborating.

The war has pushed millions into extreme hunger, created the world's largest displacement crisis, and triggered waves of ethnically driven killings and sexual violence in the Darfur region of Western Sudan.

Perriello said that the United States will continue to look at actions on the ground and act accordingly to raise costs through sanctions and other means where appropriate. Since the war began, the US has sanctioned the deputy head of the RSF, other major businesses owned by both sides, and other entities.