GENEVA: Qatar has been keen on supporting regional and international mediation efforts since the eruption of the Sudan crisis, based on its belief that resuming negotiations is the only way to end the war in Sudan.
This came in Qatar’s statement delivered by Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations Office in Geneva HE DrHind Abdulrahman Al Muftah, during a meeting at the Palace of Nations to jointly launch the Sudan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan and Regional Refugee Response Plan for Sudan for 2024.
Appreciating the joint Saudi-US efforts through the Jeddah negotiations, Al Muftah called on the warring Sudanese parties to exercise a voice of reason and resume negotiations to reach an agreement that ends the fighting and spares the Sudanese further suffering. She stressed the necessity of full cooperation to facilitate the access of humanitarian aid to those affected, and the adherence to the principles and provisions of the international humanitarian law.
She added that the Sudanese people had been suffering for 10 months from the repercussions of the relentless war and violent fighting that erupted in April 2023 and caused a catastrophic deterioration of the humanitarian, economic, social and security conditions across the country.
Shehighlighted the severe infrastructure damage and collapse of many services, especially in education and health care systems, increasing numbers of people in need of relief assistance, and the displaced persons and refugees, the majority of whom are children and women. She also underscored the food insecurity, which led the World Food Program to recently announce that the situation in Sudan is catastrophic and that about 18 million people across the country are currently facing acute hunger.
Shealso stressed that Qatar did not hesitate to fulfil its duties and humanitarian responsibility in providing various types of support and aid to alleviate the impact of the repercussions of the humanitarian crisis on the Sudanese people in these difficult times they are going through. She noted that Qatar co-sponsored the Sudan Pledging Conference 2023: a Ministerial Pledging Event to Support the Humanitarian Response in Sudan and the Region and pledged to provide USD 50 million to support the efforts of the 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Sudan and the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP).
Qatar also operated an air bridge to support the brothers in Sudan and provided relief, food and medical aid of more than 370 tonnes, provided by the Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) in partnership with Qatar Charity (QC) and the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD), she said, highlighting the QC-QFFD grant agreement of over USD 5 million to provide food baskets for families affected by war and displacement in Sudan and the QFFD efforts to supply kidney and cancer medications with over USD1mn.
She also spotlighted two agreements signed by the QC and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to support the humanitarian needs of over 30,000 Sudanese refugees in Egypt and Chad from Zakat funds to alleviate their humanitarian suffering. More than 1,784 Sudanese residents in Qatar were evacuated from Sudan onboard Qatari relief planes, she added.
Al Muftah affirmedQatar’s firm position in supporting the unity, independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sudan, and the rejection of any form of interference in its internal affairs, as well as its keenness to enhance cooperation with the UN and various humanitarian agencies and organizations to enable it to address all the challenges and difficulties facing the implementation of its programs and humanitarian activities in Sudan.
She called on the international community to redouble its efforts and provide further urgent support and adequate funding for the HRP for Sudan and the 3RP.
