LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP)— The UK led international calls Tuesday for a swift end to the devastating war in Sudan, hosting a gathering of world officials with fresh pledges of humanitarian aid as the conflict which has cost thousands of lives entered its third year.

The war erupted on April 15, 2023 in a bitter power struggle between rival generals leading Sudan’s regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) — neither of whom were present at the conference.

More than 13 million people have been uprooted and tens of thousands killed, with both sides accused of committing atrocities.

It has created what the United Nations describes as the world’s worst hunger and displacement crises.

“We simply cannot look away,” the UK’s foreign minister David Lammy said as he opened the talks among counterparts from around 15 countries, denouncing what he called “a lack of political will” to end the fighting.

“We have got to persuade the warring parties to protect civilians, to let aid in and across the country, and to put peace first,” he said, adding it would take “patient diplomacy”.

Various peace efforts have so far failed to lead to a ceasefire.

The continued fighting has fuelled fears the tensions will spill over Sudan’s borders and stir further instability in the impoverished Horn of Africa region.

“There can be no military solution in Sudan, only an immediate, unconditional secession of hostilities,” said the African Union’s commissioner for political affairs, Bankole Adeoye.

“This, we believe, must be followed by an all-inclusive dialogue to end the war.”

– Rape and famine –
The war has “shattered the lives of millions of children across Sudan,” said Catherine Russell, executive director of UNICEF, which estimated 2,776 children had been killed or maimed in 2023 and 2024.

A UN-backed assessment has concluded that famine is now blighting parts of the country.

Britain’s foreign ministry said more than 30 million people were in desperate need, and 12 million women and girls were in danger of gender-based violence.

Lammy unveiled 120 million pounds (140 million euros) in new aid for Sudan, with the EU pledging more than 522 million euros ($591 million) to address the crisis, and Germany putting up some 125 million euros.

France also announced an extra 50 million euros in humanitarian aid this year.

“How can we forget the world’s largest humanitarian crisis?” asked German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

During a visit to a refugee camp, she said she heard “horrific reports of women and children being raped” while people were dying of hunger.

Germany and France as well as the European Union and the 55-member African Union are co-hosting the conference with the British government in London.

Ministers from some 14 other countries including Saudi Arabia and the United States were attending, the Foreign Office said, along with high-level representatives from bodies such as the United Nations.

– ‘No military solution’ –
Sudan’s government has protested that it was not invited to participate, soliciting a rebuke from Khartoum.

But the German foreign ministry said both the Sudanese army and the RSF militia were unwilling to come to the table.

Sudan has accused the United Arab Emirates of supporting the paramilitary forces with arms shipments. Those fighters and the Gulf state deny the charges.

In a statement Tuesday, the UAE issued “an urgent call for peace” and accused both sides of “committing atrocities”. It said a senior foreign ministry official would attend the London conference.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot stressed “the unity of Sudan must be preserved” and there could be no unilateral government imposed on civilians.

The conflict pits the regular army of Sudan’s de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against the RSF led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

It was triggered when relations between Burhan and Daglo soured following a 2021 coup that ousted the transitional government put in place after the 2019 overthrow of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir.

The RSF are rooted in Darfur and control much of its territory, as well as parts of Sudan’s south.

The army reclaimed the capital Khartoum last month, and holds sway in the east and north, leaving Africa’s third-largest country divided in two.