On 13 February, the UK Minister for Development, Anneliese Dodds MP, convened Ministers and other representatives virtually from Canada, Egypt, EU, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, UAE and USA with the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher. The participants discussed how to urgently address the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Sudan where over 30 million people are in urgent need of assistance, more than 12 million are displaced and famine conditions have been confirmed.
The participants agreed on the critical need for both warring parties to adhere to their commitments agreed in the Jeddah Declaration to respect international humanitarian law, protect civilians and facilitate the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief both into and throughout Sudan. They expressed concern that only a fraction of aid available has been able to reach those in most need and discussed the importance of all sides lifting the bureaucratic impediments that are unnecessarily blocking or delaying the distribution of aid.
They took note of other efforts to galvanise international action and attention on the humanitarian situation in Sudan, including the High-Level Humanitarian Conference for the People of Sudan co-hosted by Ethiopia, UAE, the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development on 14 February that called for a Ramadan humanitarian pause and the launch of the 2025 UN Sudan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan and the Regional Refugee Response Plan on 17 February.
The participants re-affirmed their commitment to the Sudanese people and agreed to re-convene at regular intervals to strengthen the international response to the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.
