France To Host Humanitarian Conference For Sudan

France is to host a humanitarian conference to provide aid to war-torn Sudan in April, French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said on Wednesday.

“We will host a humanitarian conference in Paris on April 15 for Sudan and neighbouring countries to help resolve this dramatic humanitarian crisis,” he told the lower house of parliament, without providing more details.

“It should not become a forgotten crisis.”

War that broke out in April last year between Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, his former deputy and commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, has killed thousands and sparked a humanitarian disaster.

Around 25 million people — more than half the population — need aid, including nearly 18 million who face acute food insecurity, according to UN numbers.

The fighting has caused 1.6 million people to flee abroad, many to neighbouring Chad and Egypt, and displaced 6.1 million from their homes within the country, the United Nations says.

The World Health Organization warned on Tuesday that the lean season during summer could trigger catastrophic levels of hunger.