International Humanitarian Conference for Sudan starts in Paris

By Nur Asena Erturk

The International Humanitarian Conference for Sudan and its Neighbors started Monday in Paris.

France, Germany, and the EU are aiming to mobilize humanitarian funding, French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne told a joint news conference with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, and EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic.

The conference has three goals, Sejourne explained and recalled that 27 million Sudanese were in need of humanitarian aid.

“The second goal is to support mediation attempts and improve coordination across the international community,” Sejourne said. “The last and third goal is to provide support to Sudanese civilians. Their voice has to be heard in this critical time.”

Baerbock, for her part, said: “Today we demonstrate that we will not forget the suffering of the people in Sudan.”

She particularly emphasized the difficulties that Sudanese women and children had to endure.

Josep Borrell stressed the need to make belligerents in Sudan consider ending the war, and to establish a humanitarian truce.

Commissioner Lenarcic also regretted the situation of the women and children in Sudan and added: “The first thing that we have to do is to make sure that Sudan is not forgotten.”

“France, Germany, and the European Union are determined to act,” he stressed.

The war in Sudan broke out on April 15, 2023 over disagreements to integrate the RSF into the army between the army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

The conflict has caused a devastating humanitarian crisis, and clashes have killed nearly 16,000 people and displaced millions.

- Iran's attack on Israel

Annalena Baerbock answered a question about Iran’s attack on Israel over the weekend, and described the attack as “unprecedented.”

“At the same time, this escalation has also shown that the region stands by Israel’s side when it comes to containing the dangerous Iranian behavior. Iran stays isolated,” the foreign minister added.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched a barrage of drones and missiles at Israel late on Saturday in response to the April 1 attack on the Iranian Consulate in Damascus.

The attack, which killed seven Iranian military officials, including a senior IRGC commander, drew sharp reactions from the Iranian government officials, who vowed a "decisive response."

According to some unconfirmed reports, the IRGC fired more than 300 drones and missiles in an attack that lasted several hours, many of which were intercepted by Israeli air defense systems.

However, IRGC commander Gen. Hossein Salami told reporters in Tehran on Sunday morning that the operation was successful more than they had expected.

Meanwhile, speculation is rife that Israel may decide to retaliate, which experts believe could trigger an all-out regional war.