France Announces Humanitarian Summit for Sudan

FILE - Sudanese refugees gather as Doctors Without Borders (MSF) teams assist the war wounded from West Darfur, Sudan, in Adre hospital, Chad June 16, 2023 in this handout image.

PARIS - France is to host a humanitarian conference to provide aid to conflict-stricken 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 neighboring 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."

The conflict that broke out in April last year between Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, 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 U.N. numbers.

The fighting has caused 1.6 million people to flee abroad, many to neighboring 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.