LONDON: The UK has pledged an additional £5 million ($6.6 million) in emergency funding to support civilians caught in Sudan’s escalating humanitarian crisis, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper announced on Saturday.
Speaking at the 21st Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, Cooper described the situation in El-Fasher as “truly horrifying and utterly intolerable,” highlighting that about 260,000 people, half of them children, were trapped amid famine-like conditions and ongoing violence.
“In Sudan right now, there is just despair,” she said. “For too long this terrible conflict has been neglected, while suffering has simply increased. Today I’m announcing from the UK government a further £5 million of humanitarian support in response to the violence in El-Fasher, on top of the £120 million the UK is already providing this year across Sudan.”
The funds will be used to provide critical services such as emergency food, medical care and protection for survivors of sexual violence. Of the total, £2 million will be directed specifically to support survivors of rape and sexual assault.
Cooper condemned reports that both the Rapid Support Forces and Sudanese Armed Forces were continuing to use rape as a weapon.
“Atrocities, mass executions, starvation and the devastating use of rape as a weapon of war, with women and children bearing the brunt of the largest humanitarian crisis in the 21st century, are truly horrifying,” she said.
The UK’s £120 million aid commitment for Sudan this year includes support through partners such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Sudan Humanitarian Fund and the Cash Consortium Sudan, delivering food, health assistance and protection services.
British diplomats continue to press all parties to end hostilities, protect civilians and grant unrestricted humanitarian access, as London urges renewed international efforts to bring peace to the war-torn nation.
