Britain is to increase its aid to Sudan by a further £21 million ($28 million) to support “communities on the brink”, the Foreign Office has announced.
The package will allow aid organisations in the stricken North African country to reach 150,000 people, delivering food, clean water, medical care and emergency shelters.
The money, which brings the UK’s contributions to Sudan to £146 million this year, will also keep hospitals running. It is also hoped the funds can help reconnect families torn apart by the country's civil war, which has raged since 2023.
The conflict has killed more than 150,000 people, with the Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces accused of atrocities.
Britain has urged all sides to end the war and protect civilians. The country has "repeatedly condemned the violence" perpetrated by the RSF and Sudanese armed forces, the Foreign Office said in a statement.
It called the deepening humanitarian crisis “the worst in the world”, with 30 million of the country’s 50 million population needing aid, with 12 million people forced to flee their homes.
On Friday, Britain followed the EU by imposing sanctions over the RSF's actions in the city of El Fasher last month. The UK announced asset freezes and travel bans on RSF deputy leader Hamdan Dagalo, brother of the group's leader Gen Mohamed Dagalo, as well as three other commanders.
“The atrocities taking place in Sudan are so horrific they scar the conscience of the world,” Ms Cooper said. “The overwhelming evidence of heinous crimes – mass executions, starvation and the systematic and calculated use of rape as a weapon of war – cannot and will not go unpunished.”
She added that Britain would not “not look away” and would “always stand with the people of Sudan”. It is understood that Ms Cooper is seeking assistance from US President Donald Trump's administration to help bring the conflict to an end.
