The European Union and Britain on Tuesday pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to ease suffering in Sudan, on the second anniversary of the country's civil war.
Tens of thousands of people have died, 14 million people have been displaced and large parts of the country have been pushed into famine since 2023.
Senior diplomats and aid officials fromthe UK, Germany, France, the European Union and the African Union gathered at the one-day conferencehosted in London, where they calledfor an immediate cessation of hostilities.
The EU and its member states pledged €522 million ($590 million) in aid for 2025.
What did diplomats say?
However, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told the conference that "no amount of humanitarian assistance will be sufficient if this war continues."
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom announced £120 million (€141 million) in funding for the coming year to deliver food for 650,000 people in Sudan, as the war unleashes widespread famine.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy acknowledged that achieving peace would take time, renewed international effort and "patient diplomacy."
Lammy told delegates that "many have given up on Sudan," and have concededthat continued conflict is inevitable.
He said a lack of political will is the biggest obstacle to peace.
"We have got to persuade the warring parties to protect civilians, to let aid in and across the country and to put peace first," Lammy added.
Attendees included officials from Western nations, international institutions and Sudan's neighbors, but no representatives from Sudan were present.
Paramilitary RSF announces rival government
Meanwhile, in Sudan, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary organization, which has been locked in a fight for power with the Sudanese army, announced the formation of a rival government.
Commemorating the second anniversary of the breakout of the civil war, RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo said in a statement on Telegram: "On this anniversary, we proudly declare the establishment of the Government of Peace and Unity, a broad coalition that reflects the true face of Sudan."
The new "government," according to the statement, would be a federal, non-centralized one with a "unified, professional, apolitical military" with personnel from all different provinces. It would also include a presidential council made up of 15 members selected from all provinces.
Dagalo vowed that the new authority would provide basic services, "education, health and justice," not just in the areas under the RSF control, but nationwide.
Both the Sudanese army and the RSF have been accused of war crimes.
Why did civil war break out in Sudan?
Sudan's civil war broke out on April 15, 2023, in Khartoum and has since expanded throughout the country, plunging Africa's third-largest nation into a humanitarian crisis.
The conflict stemmed from a power struggle between Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF leader Dagalo.
Dagalo and al-Burhan had previously shared power after a military coup in 2021 that ousted the transitional government put in place after the 2019 overthrow of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir.
But relations between the two strongmen soured, triggering the conflict.
A timeline of the Sudan conflict
The RSF are rooted in Darfur and control much of its territory, as well as parts of Sudan's south.
The army reclaimed the capital Khartoum last month, and holds sway in the east and north, leaving the nation essentially divided in two.
Civil war causes massive humanitarian crisis
Dallia Abdelmoneim,a Sudanese political commentator who fled the violence, told DW that Sudan's civil war is now the "largest and the worst humanitarian crisis" in the world.
"The longer this war continues, the worse the situation becomes, not just politically or military-wise, but even more so for the civilians," she said.
Abdelmoneimadded that "very little is being doneto find a way to end this war or to at least reach a ceasefire."
The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric, said two years of "a ruinous war" in Sudan had left civilians "trapped in a relentless nightmare of death and destruction."
She urged all parties to "take concrete steps" to protect civilians.
Ahead of the conference,Baerbockpledged €125 million ($142 million) in humanitarian aid to allow international and local aid organizations to deliver urgently needed food and medicine to people in need.
She called the conflict "the greatest humanitarian catastrophe of our time."
African Union's commissioner for political affairs, Bankole Adeoye, said, "Achieving peace in Sudan depends on valuing every voice and everyone playing a role in building a prosperous Sudan."
At least 20,000 people have been estimated to be killed, but the death toll is likely to be much higher. Sexual violence is rampant, with estimates putting about 12 million women and girls in danger of gender-based violence.
The civil war has also prompted the world's largest displacement crisis, with some 13 million people displaced to refugee camps and neighboring countries.
The World Food Program says nearly 25 million people — half of Sudan's population — face extreme hunger.
There are also growing fears that the conflict will spill over Sudan's border and stir tensions and instability across the entire region.
Sudan's civil war, humanitarian crisis enter third year
Edited by: Zac Crellin, Wesley Rahn, Alex Berry
