US provides $245 million in humanitarian aid to Sudan, neighboring countries

By Firdevs Bulut Kartal

TORONTO (AA) - The US is providing $245 million in additional aid to Sudan and neighboring countries experiencing the effects of the continuing humanitarian crisis, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced Tuesday.

"With this funding, our humanitarian partners can respond to the new needs arising from the current conflict, which has displaced approximately 840,000 people within the country and forced another 250,000 to flee since April 15," Blinken said in a statement.

The funds amount to nearly $143 million from the Department of State’s Bureau for Population, Refugee and Migration, and $103 million in humanitarian assistance from the US Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance.

"This announcement brings total US humanitarian assistance for Sudan and neighbors Chad, Egypt, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic to nearly $880 million in FY 2023," said Blinken.

Emphasizing that the US is by far the largest single donor of humanitarian need in the Horn of Africa, Blinken said Washington will continue to work with international and local partners to provide food, water, medical care and other life-saving aid for displaced persons, refugees and others in dire need because of the conflict.

A disagreement had been fomenting in recent months between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces about the paramilitary group’s integration into the armed forces, a key condition of a transition agreement with political groups.

Sudan has been without a functioning government since the fall of 2021, when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's transitional government and declared a state of emergency in a move decried by political forces as a "coup."

The transitional period, which started in August 2019 after the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, had been scheduled to end with elections in early 2024.