American Magazine: No New Outcome at Berlin Conference
The American magazine Politico, specialized in national security affairs, published a summary of the Berlin conference, downplaying its overall outcomes. It cited the opinion of American security and political expert Cameron Hudson, who specializes in Sudanese affairs, and who believes the conference made no tangible progress on the issue of a ceasefire or raising significant new funds for relief efforts.
The magazine noted on Thursday that Germany hosted the conference “with the aim of providing financial support to those affected by the years-long war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.” It stated that German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul announced that donors pledged $1.53 billion for relief efforts in Sudan, exceeding the $1 billion raised at last year’s donors’ conference in London.
“We must not forget this major humanitarian crisis in Africa,” Wadephul told German broadcaster Deutschlandfunk.
But Cameron Hudson, who served as Africa director at the National Security Council under President George W. Bush, told the Daily Mail that “the pledged funds may not necessarily be new money,” noting that the amount announced today was almost identical to the amount pledged at a similar conference held in Washington last February.
“All indications are that this is just a play on words, and that all these promises are simply a repetition of previous ones,” Hudson told the Daily Mail. He added that while the conference succeeded in bringing together members of civil society to voice their concerns about the conflict on an international platform, it made little tangible progress on a ceasefire or raising significant new funds for relief efforts.
The war, which entered its fourth year today, has created what the United Nations has described as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, the magazine reported. At least 14 million Sudanese have been displaced, and another 34 million – nearly 65% of the country’s population – are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, according to the United Nations. The war with Iran has exacerbated existing famine conditions, disrupted shipping routes, and driven up food and fuel prices.