On Tuesday 9 April, members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Development (DEVE) debated the humanitarian situation in Sudan. Hostilities between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary militia, have resulted in thousands of deaths and the displacement of 8.5 million people since the conflict began in April 2023. Famine is threatening almost 5 million people, while sexual violence against women is particularly widespread.
The Chair of the DEVE committee, Tomas Tobé (EPP, Swedish), highlighted the fact that the international community is paying very little attention to the ongoing conflict. Max Orville MEP (Renew Europe, French) also felt that “the EU should perhaps get to grips with the issue (...) in order to institute a ceasefire and encourage humanitarian corridors”.
Ahead of a conference to be held in Paris on Monday 15 April, co-hosted by the EU, France and Germany, several humanitarian organisations operating in Sudan and neighbouring countries issued an urgent appeal on Tuesday, urging leaders to increase funding and remove the obstacles to humanitarian access.
“The conference must result in decisive, meaningful and inclusive commitments to respond to this devastating crisis”, said Care International’s Secretary General, Sofia Sprechmann Sineiro, at a press conference of the Inter-Agency Working Group for East and Central Africa held on Tuesday.
According to Antoine Lemasson, Head of Unit at the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), the European Commission is “ready to scale up”. (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)