Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand announced another $120 million in humanitarian and development aid for Sudan on Wednesday as the African nation's civil war enters its fourth year.
Anand told The Canadian Press hunger is being used as a weapon of war in Sudan but it's up to global tribunals to decide whether a genocide is taking place.
"Sudan is a priority for us," Anand said in a Wednesday interview. "I'm gravely concerned about the worsening humanitarian crisis."
The United Nations says 34 million people in Sudan — two-thirds of the population — need humanitarian support. More than 13 million people have been displaced and the UN has reported at least 40,000 deaths, though aid groups say the true death toll is likely much higher.
The conflict began as a political struggle between the country's military and paramilitary forces and erupted into a brutal ethnic conflict in the Darfur region. Sudan is now divided between a military-backed, internationally recognized government in the capital Khartoum, and a rival Rapid Support Forces-controlled administration in Darfur, a region in western Sudan.
Canada has announced more than $94 million in humanitarian aid for Sudan, such as emergency food and nutrition support. That sum includes aid for displaced Sudanese in neighbouring countries.
Ottawa is also sending $25 million in development assistance, such as supports for schools and trauma counselling, through Save the Children Canada, along with funding for sexual violence prevention through the UN.
Randeep Sarai, secretary of state for international development, announced the funding at a conference in Berlin, where German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said the equivalent of more than C$2 billion in humanitarian aid has been pledged by various nations.
That sum includes C$343 million offered by Germany, along with Canada's contribution.
Wadephul told German media the aid was being offered to help fill a funding gap left by cuts to U.S. foreign aid under President Donald Trump.
The Sudanese government in Khartoum, meanwhile, slammed the conference as “unacceptable” interference and said Germany didn't consult with Sudan before convening it.
Anand said the Canadian funding tops up $220 million Canada already has pledged for people living in Sudan and those who have fled the conflict.
"There is credible evidence that starvation is being deliberately used as a method of warfare," she said. "Hospitals (and) civilian infrastructure across the board are being targeted. Women and girls have described sexual violence not as an exception, but as an inescapable reality.
"The people of Sudan need water. They need health care services. They need nutrition, they need safe places to be, and security. This is what international humanitarian law stands for."
Anand said the aid is part of Canada's efforts to help civilians caught up in wars and political conflicts in places ranging from Cuba to Lebanon.
"One of the priorities that this aid underlines is for us to be responsive in this very volatile world where civilians and civilian infrastructure are consistently being attacked," she said.
Washington has accused Sudan's Rapid Support Forces of committing a genocide. Anand said that determination is up to international courts.
"The legal determination of whether a situation amounts to a genocide rests with international tribunals, but we do not shy away from identifying that there may be credible evidence — as there is in this case — of severe and horrific human rights abuses," she said.
She noted the RSF attack on a hospital in the Sudanese city of el-Fasher last October, which killed hundreds of patients and led to the kidnapping of multiple health workers.
Videos posted online showed hospital rooms pocked with bullet holes, and a Yale University analysis of satellite images found pools of blood suggesting mass killings at multiple sites.
Numerous aid groups are calling for more attention and funding for the Sudan crisis.
The Montreal-based Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights has proposed a plan to empower civil society in Sudan, end the violence and seek accountability through multilateral institutions.
The plan, released Wednesday, has been backed by multiple advocates, including former United Nations ambassador Bob Rae and former senator Roméo Dallaire.
Picture Courtesy: AP Photo/Marwan Ali
