Brussels – Sudan is “the EU’s main humanitarian priority in Africa.” With these words, the European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Equality and Preparedness, the Belgian Hadja Lahbib, welcomed the commitment made by the European Union and its Member States to allocate 812.14 million euros to respond to what is currently the world’s most serious humanitarian emergency. The war, now entering its fourth year of destruction and massacres, is resulting in unprecedented casualty figures: there are over 13 million displaced people, 33.7 million people in need of assistance, 30 million in need of food aid, and 12 million, including children, at risk of gender-based violence, while famine has been confirmed in several regions.
The pledges were made at the conclusion of the Third International Conference on Sudan, co-organized by the EU together with Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the African Union, in Berlin. In her closing address to the Conference, Lahbib noted that “the crisis in Sudan is man-made” and that “the violence by the warring parties and their sponsors is driving the humanitarian catastrophe.” A situation in which “we all have a responsibility to push for peace and bring this suffering to an end. The Sudanese people need an immediate ceasefire.”
Of the total allocated by the EU, the European Commission’s contribution amounts to 360.8 million euros, of which 215.5 million euros will be allocated to supporting people in need in Sudan and 145.3 million euros will help address the regional refugee crisis triggered by the war in countries such as Chad, South Sudan, Ethiopia, the Central African Republic, Uganda, Egypt, and Libya. The remaining Team Europe funds have been pledged by Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, and Sweden. The Commission highlighted that “EU aid will address food insecurity through cash assistance, healthcare and nutrition services, water and sanitation, shelter support, protection, and education. This funding will also help sustain essential services, support livelihoods, and strengthen resilience, while fostering long-term peace-building in Sudan.”
However, according to Lahbib, “funding alone is not enough. Sudanese responders also need protection. They face the highest risks, but too often receive the least support.” Therefore, “we have created the ‘Protecting Humanitarian Workers’ program to provide relocation, legal assistance, medical care, and psychosocial support,” Lahbib continued, stressing that “we have already helped over 400 humanitarians, a quarter of them are Sudanese.” Furthermore, “Sudanese responders are at the heart of this funding” and “from this year, at least 25 percent of our humanitarian funding will be allocated to local organizations because they are the ones who can reach people everywhere, even where others cannot,” she pointed out.
Finally, “to end the suffering, we must act together.” Lahbib said. And, “to help break this cycle of violence and impunity, and to prevent more atrocities, I am pleased to announce that the EU is looking forward to joining the Coalition on Atrocity Prevention and Justice in Sudan,” she added.
Last year, at the 2025 London High-Level Conference on Sudan, the EU and its Member States pledged 522 million euros in humanitarian aid for the regional crisis in Sudan, in addition to the 260 million euros allocated by the Commission in 2024 (of which 147 million euros was earmarked for country-level interventions). “Today’s Berlin conference builds on these efforts to scale up support amid worsening famine and violence,” the EU Commission said, noting that, “the EU has been supporting the humanitarian response in Sudan with over 1 billion euros in humanitarian assistance since 2013” and that “the EU’s humanitarian funding in Sudan is implemented by trusted humanitarian partners like the UN agencies, the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, and international NGOs.”
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
