The United Arab Emirates pledged $500 million on Tuesday to a U.N. fund providing humanitarian aid for Sudan, amid U.S. efforts to push for a truce in the conflict that has devastated the country, Reuters reported.
Sudan has accused the UAE of supplying arms to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have been fighting the Sudanese army since civil war erupted in April 2023.
The UAE denies the allegations, though U.N. experts and U.S. lawmakers have found them credible. Speaking at a donor event in Washington, UAE state minister Lana Nusseibeh said her country wanted to see a truce in Sudan, without mentioning the alleged support for the RSF.
Nusseibeh has previously stated that the UAE condemns violations by both warring sides and supports an independent, civilian-led government in Sudan.
The U.S. special envoy for Africa, Massad Boulos, said he expected total new pledges of $1.5 billion at the Washington event, including an additional $200 million for Sudan from the United States. Other countries at the event did not announce specific new aid contributions.
The conflict in Sudan has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions, and spread famine across the country.
Fighting has intensified in recent months, with the southern Kordofan region being the latest frontline, where the army reports recent gains.
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Boulos said Washington is pushing for the parties in Sudan to agree on a truce ahead of the start of Ramadan on February 17.
He admitted that progress has been disappointing since President Donald Trump said in November he would intervene to end the conflict at the request of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“We would have hoped to achieve peace much, much earlier,” Boulos said. “We’ve amplified our efforts and yet we haven’t really achieved that much yet, in terms of the humanitarian truce, which was the first item on the milestone roadmap.”
Officials from Egypt and Saudi Arabia are set to meet U.S. and UAE officials as part of a so-called Quad grouping working on a U.S. peace proposal, Boulos said, adding that the text of a peace plan had been accepted by these parties.
The warring sides themselves have yet to agree to a temporary truce or the U.S. peace plan, but Boulos said he hopes it will eventually be presented to the U.N. Security Council and then to Trump’s Board of Peace.
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Image Credit: Reuters
