UAE and UN finalise $20m aid package to support war-hit Sudan

Emirates pledges further $8m to World Health Organisation to assist its operations in the African country

Among those at the signing of the aid agreement were Sultan Al Shamsi, Assistant Minister for International Development Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Lana Nusseibeh, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Political Affairs, at the WHO headquarters in Geneva. WamShow less

The UAE and the UN's refugee agency on Wednesday finalised a $20 million aid package to deliver crucial humanitarian support in Sudan and neighbouring countries.

The financial assistance aims to improve the living conditions and safety of displaced people and refugees amid bloody civil conflict in the African country which has raged for well over a year.

The agreement was formally made between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees at the UNHCR headquarters in Geneva.

The funds will be used to bolster shelter, health care and basic services for thousands of people in Sudan and South Sudan.

“Together, we can make a significant impact on the ground in Sudan, providing relief and hope to the most vulnerable. We remain steadfast in standing with the people of Sudan during this crisis,” said Lana Nusseibeh, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Political Affairs.

The UNHCR said such relief provided an essential lifeline to civilians facing a worsening humanitarian crisis.

“The people of Sudan are enduring the dreadful consequences of this brutal war and need urgent support,” said Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

“State contributions are essential in providing much-needed life-saving humanitarian assistance to vulnerable people in Sudan forced to flee.”

$8m to boost health drive

Lana Nusseibeh, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Political Affairs, with Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director general, at the global health body's headquarters in Geneva. Wam

The UAE on Wednesday pledged a further $8 million to the World Health Organisation to fund its initiatives in Sudan.

The agreement was signed at the WHO headquarters, also in Geneva.

“With support from partners and donors, the World Health Organisation will continue to support the urgent health needs of the people of Sudan and the refugees in neighbouring countries," said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director general.

"We thank the UAE for this generous pledge. We must act together to protect the lives of the most vulnerable.”

Abdalla Hamdok, former prime minister of Sudan, has called for urgent action in the country, where more than 25 million face famine and hunger, nearly 10 million are internally displaced and there is “suffering beyond imagination”.

In an exclusive interview with The National, Mr Hamdok, chairman of the Co-ordination of Civilian Democratic Forces (Taqaddum), warned that “people could die from hunger and starvation more than from bullets”.

He also spoke about “so many battles all over the country” as the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces wage war.

UAE delivers key support

The UAE and the UN's World Food Programme signed an agreement on Sunday to provide emergency food assistance to people affected by the conflict in Sudan and its effects on neighbouring South Sudan.

Beneficiaries will include refugees, host communities, internally displaced people and returnees affected by the war, said state news agency Wam.

About 17.7 million people in Sudan and 7.1 million in South Sudan face acute food insecurity as a result of war in Sudan. In this initiative, the UAE has committed $25 million: $20 million for Sudan and $5 million for South Sudan.

This came after the UAE signed two agreements on Saturday to address the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, the first $10 million of the allotted $70 million from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The first $5 million commitment, agreed with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN, is intended to avert famine.

A second agreement, to support the Sudan Humanitarian Fund, will bolster aid supplies given to families and communities caught up in the civil war.

The contributions come as part of the ministry's allocation of the $100 million commitment made by the UAE in April.

Last week, the Foreign Ministry announced 70 per cent of the fund would be allocated to UN agencies and humanitarian organisations.

The FAO fund will be directed to a project called Mitigating Famine in Sudan – Support to Conflict-Affected Vulnerable Smallholder Farming and Pastoralist Households.

Running for one year, it will provide emergency crop, livestock and veterinary assistance to 275,000 smallholder farmer households, benefitting about 1.3 million people.

It aims to offer 155,000 vulnerable smallholder farmer households and another 775,000 people emergency livelihood support. The project also aims to reduce livestock losses through the vaccination of two million animals.

The Sudan Humanitarian Fund contribution, meanwhile, will assist with access to funds to address humanitarian needs and emergencies – including aid supplies and medical equipment.

“We are grateful for the generous contribution from the UAE, which will significantly enhance our efforts to improve food and nutrition security in Sudan,” said Abdul Hakim Elwaer, FAO assistant director general and regional representative for the Middle East and North Africa.

“We are committed to making a tangible difference in the lives of the people we serve, and this contribution brings us one step closer to our goal in Sudan.”

Relief aid provided by the UAE has reached $150 million, which includes medical, food and relief supplies, Wam reported.

The UAE has also established a field hospital in Abeche in Chad, at a cost of $20 million, the second hospital it has opened to support Sudanese refugees.

The Sudanese civil war has led to the largest displacement crisis in the world, with more than nine million people forced to flee.

The war in Sudan – in pictures

Rapid Support Forces commander Gen Mohamed Dagalo, then deputy head of Sudan's sovereign council, gives a media briefing in Khartoum in February last year. Reuters

Smoke rises after blasts in Khartoum amid clashes between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary on April 15 last year. AFP

Sudanese Army soldiers at the Rapid Support Forces base in Port Sudan on April 16 last year. AFP

Black smoke covers the sky over Khartoum as clashes continued on April 19. AFP

Displaced Khartoum residents flee the city after a 24-hour truce collapsed on April 19. AFP

Foreign citizens board a plane at a French military air base in Khartoum to leave Sudan on April 23. AFP

A soldier carries a child as people evacuated from Sudan disembark from a plain at a military airport in Amman on April 24. AFP

Evacuees from Sudan sit in a military plane as they wait to be processed by Kenyan troops in Nairobi on April 24. Reuters

Sudanese refugees gather to receive humanitarian aid in Koufroun, Chad, on April 30. AFP

Sudanese Army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan visits troop positions in Khartoum on May 30. AFP

Sudanese refugees at the Zabout camp in Goz Beida, Chad, on July 1. AP

Smoke rises from a fire at a lumber warehouse in southern Khartoum on June 7. AFP

People prepare to leave Khartoum during a ceasefire on June 19. AP

People sit on top of a lorry carrying furniture on the road between Khartoum and Wad Madani, Al Gezirah state, on July 18. AFP

Men load goods from Ethiopia on to a lorry in the border town of Gallabat on August 2. AFP

Sudanese Army troops ride in a military convoy accompanying the governor of Darfur State in the eastern city of Gedaref on August 30. AFP

A fire rages at a livestock market after RSF bombardment in Al Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, on September 1. AFP

People cook on a campfire at a school that has been turned into a shelter for displaced Sudanese in the northern border town of Wadi Halfa, near Egypt, on September 11. AFP

Displaced Sudanese ride on top of a lorry in Wad Madani on December 16. AFP

Sudanese refugees queue to board a lorry to go to a transit centre after crossing the border into South Sudan on February 14. AFP

People watch as fighters from the army-aligned Sudan Liberation Movement attend a graduation ceremony in the south-eastern Gedaref state on March 28. AFP

Fighters from the SLM attend a graduation ceremony in Gedaref state on March 28. AFP