The United States and the United Nations are leading a renewed global effort to tackle Sudan’s worsening humanitarian crisis, unveiling a new Sudan Humanitarian Fund backed by $700 million from the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates.
Officials from the Trump administration announced Tuesday that $200 million would be drawn from a $2 billion humanitarian funding pool established late last year to support crises worldwide. The UAE has pledged $500 million toward the Sudan effort. Saudi Arabia and other participating countries signaled intentions to contribute, although they stopped short of stating specific figures.
“Today we are signaling that the international community will work together to bring this suffering to an end, and to ensure lifesaving aid reaches communities in such desperate, desperate need,” said U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher, who heads the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA. Fletcher co-hosted the fundraising event in Washington on Tuesday with U.S. senior adviser for Arab and African affairs Massad Boulos.
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Fletcher indicated that organizers are working toward tangible outcomes by mid-February, identifying the start of Ramadan on February 17 as a milestone date “to make visible progress on this work.”
Boulos, speaking at the same event, revealed that the U.S. has tabled a “comprehensive proposal” aimed at securing a humanitarian ceasefire within weeks, the AP reported.
Sudan’s war, which occurred in 2023, pits the Sudanese Armed Forces against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in a power struggle that has devastated the country. United Nations estimates put the death toll above 40,000, though officials caution that actual fatalities could be significantly higher.
The fighting has triggered what aid agencies describe as the world’s worst humanitarian emergency. More than 14 million people have been displaced, and famine conditions have been confirmed in several parts of the country.
Recent battles have intensified in the Kordofan region following the RSF’s capture of el-Fasher, previously one of the army’s last defensive positions in Darfur. However, government troops have recently reclaimed momentum in Kordofan, lifting a prolonged siege on Kadugli and the nearby town of Dilling. Military officials said Tuesday that forces had successfully reopened a strategic route linking the two towns.
Kadugli had endured RSF encirclement since the conflict began, with famine conditions formally recognized there by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification in November.
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Violence continued even as diplomatic and aid efforts gained traction. According to the Sudan Doctors Network, an RSF drone strike struck a medical facility in Kadugli on Tuesday, killing 15 people, including seven children.
