#Canada pledges $120M in aid for Sudan as brutal civil war enters fourth year. Anand told The Canadian Press hunger is being used as a weapon of war in Sudan but it’s up to global tribunals to decide whether a genocide is taking place.
“Sudan is a priority for us,” Anand said in a Wednesday interview. “I’m gravely concerned about the worsening humanitarian crisis.”
The United Nations says 34 million people in Sudan — two-thirds of the population — need humanitarian support. More than 13 million people have been displaced and the UN has reported at least 40,000 deaths, though aid groups say the true death toll is likely much higher.
The conflict began as a political struggle between the country’s military and paramilitary forces and erupted into a brutal ethnic conflict in the Darfur region. Sudan is now divided between a military-backed, internationally recognized government in the capital Khartoum, and a rival Rapid Support Forces-controlled administration in Darfur, a region in western Sudan.
Canada has announced more than $94 million in humanitarian aid for Sudan, such as emergency food and nutrition support. That sum includes aid for displaced Sudanese in neighbouring countries.
Ottawa is also sending $25 million in development assistance, such as supports for schools and trauma counselling, through Save the Children Canada, along with funding for sexual violence prevention through the UN.
Randeep Sarai, secretary of state for international development, announced the funding at a conference in Berlin, where German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said the equivalent of more than C$2 billion in humanitarian aid has been pledged by various nations.
That sum includes C$343 million offered by Germany, along with Canada’s contribution.
Wadephul told German media the aid was being offered to help fill a funding gap left by cuts to U.S. foreign aid under President Donald Trump.
The Sudanese government in Khartoum, meanwhile, slammed the conference as “unacceptable” interference and said Germany didn’t consult with Sudan before convening it.
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