![(L-R) Political Affairs, Peace and Security Commissioner for the African Union, Bankole Adeoye, Britain's Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, and French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noel Barrot, attend the London Sudan conference marking the two-year anniversary of the Sudan conflict, at Lancaster House on April 15, 2025 in London, England. [Photo by Isabel Infantes - WPA Pool/Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/GettyImages-2209807477-1-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
The European Union and Britain today pledged to increase aid for Sudan, ahead of a conference in London marking the second anniversary of a conflict that has displaced millions and devastated the country.
Britain said the conference aimed to improve the coherence of the international response to the crisis, although Sudan’s government criticised the gathering because no representative from either side of the conflict was invited.
The war in Sudan erupted in April 2023, sparked by a power struggle between the army and Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), shattering hopes for a transition to civilian rule.
It has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions and devastated regions like Darfur. It has also drawn in several foreign powers.
The European Union and member states pledged over €522 million ($592 million) to address the crisis while Britain announced an extra £120 million pounds ($158 million) in aid.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the international community had to persuade the warring parties to protect civilians and let aid in, and he hoped the conference would establish principles for future engagement.
“We do need patient diplomacy,” he told delegates at the start of the conference. “We cannot resign ourselves to inevitable conflict. We cannot be back here, one year from now, having the same discussion.”
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Britain is co-hosting the conference with the African Union, the European Union, France and Germany. Egypt, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are among the other attendees.
Sudan’s foreign minister has complained to Lammy, saying Sudan should have been invited, while criticising the presence of the United Arab Emirates and Kenya.
Sudan accuses the UAE of arming the RSF, a charge that UN experts and US lawmakers have found credible, and it has taken a case against it to the International Court of Justice in the Hague. The UAE has denied the allegation and asked for the case to be thrown out.
Sudan also recalled its envoy to Kenya after it hosted talks between the RSF and its allies to form a parallel government.
Lana Nusseibeh, assistant minister for Political Affairs at the UAE’s Foreign Ministry, said both sides were committing atrocities and aid was being deliberately blocked.
“As Sudan’s devastating war enters its third year, the United Arab Emirates issues an urgent call for peace,” she said in a statement.
Organisers hope the conference will draw attention to a conflict where Britain says 30 million people desperately need aid and 12 million have been displaced..
A UN agency warned today that rape is being used systematically as a weapon of war in Sudan.
Luca Renda, the UNDP Resident Representative in Sudan, told reporters there was hope for “a more co-ordinated and coherent approach of the international community,” adding “Sudanese people are tired of this war.”
“The greatest humanitarian catastrophe of our time is unfolding before the eyes of the world,” German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said in a statement.
Lawyers acting for Sudanese victims today also submitted a 141-page dossier outlining alleged war crimes committed by the RSF to the UK police’s special war crimes unit, with a request to pass the file to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has jurisdiction over atrocity crimes in Darfur.
READ: UN fact-finding mission warns ‘darkest chapters’ ahead in Sudan conflict