The United States and the United Nations are seeking to rally international support for humanitarian aid to war-ravaged Sudan, kicking off a new Sudan Humanitarian Fund with $700 million in contributions from the United Arab Emirates and the U.S.The Trump administration said Tuesday that it would contribute $200 million to the initiative from a basket of $2 billion it set aside late last year to fund humanitarian projects around the world. The UAE said it would contribute $500 million. Saudi Arabia and several other participants promised they would make pledges but did not specify amounts.“Today we are signaling that the international community will work together to bring this suffering to an end, and to ensure lifesaving aid reaches communities in such desperate, desperate need,” said U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher, who heads the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA. Fletcher co-hosted the fundraising event in Washington on Tuesday with U.S. senior adviser for Arab and African affairs Massad Boulos.
Fletcher said they have set the beginning of Ramadan, on February 17, as a date “to make visible progress on this work.”
