US to provide over $315 million in additional aid for Sudan

The U.S. will provide more than $315 million in additional humanitarian assistance to support the people of Sudan, who are facing the largest humanitarian crisis in the world, U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power said on Friday.

Power called on Sudan's warring army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces to stop blocking aid and support a surge of humanitarian assistance to prevent the deaths of millions of people.

"It is obstruction, not insufficient stocks of food, that is the driving force behind the historic and deadly levels of starvation in Sudan. That has to change immediately," she said.

The United Nations has said nearly 25 million people, half Sudan's population, need aid and some 8 million have fled their homes.

War erupted in Sudan in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the RSF, triggering the world's largest displacement crisis.

The U.N. Security Council on Thursday demanded that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF)halt the siege of al-Fashir, a city of 1.8 million people in Sudan's North Darfur region, and an immediate end to fighting in the area.

Top U.N. officials have warned the worsening violence around al-Fashir could unleash bloody intercommunal strife throughout Darfur.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the Security Council must consider all options, including authorizing aid to move from neighboring countries, if the warring parties do not respect international law and facilitate humanitarian access.

She added that more must be done to compel warring parties to stop the fighting and get back to the negotiating table, as well as to urge outside supporters to stop sending weapons that fuel the conflict.

Thomas-Greenfield said the U.S. was pushing for ceasefire talks to resume and would continue to press Sudan's army to go back to negotiations after General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in a conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken last month did not agree at the time to return to talks under the Jeddah platform.

"We have been disappointed with the delays in beginning the talks," she said.

Talks sponsored by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia in Jeddah have been stalled for months after failing to achieve a sustained ceasefire.

This article originally appeared on Reuters.