NGOs call for more aid for war-torn Sudan at French conference
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00:00 Yes Nadia, it's been a very important conference here at Quai d'Orsay in Paris
00:04 where donors have arrived to give pledges and show their support to Sudan
00:09 in what has been billed a forgotten conflict.
00:12 And now standing with me here is Jayda McKenna.
00:15 She's the CEO of Mercy Corps, which is a humanitarian organization working in Sudan
00:21 and they have been very much on the ground working with the Sudanese
00:25 who are really in a destitute condition given the war which started exactly one year ago.
00:30 So I'm going to just start by opening up the question.
00:33 Jayda, thanks so much for just speaking to us about the situation.
00:37 How important is it to get the pledges over the line?
00:40 It is very important.
00:42 Coming in today, this crisis was only 6% funded.
00:45 There were nowhere near the resources that are needed for the 25 million people in Sudan
00:50 who are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.
00:53 Now when we get something like a pledge, we've heard that the figure wanted by the UN
00:59 was $2.7 billion.
01:02 5% of that is nowhere near enough, but we are possibly expecting a value of up to $1 billion
01:07 after this conference.
01:09 Where does that money then go?
01:11 How does it help an organization like yours?
01:13 Yes, lots of different ways.
01:16 First of all, we are hoping that it comes immediately.
01:19 So those funds, the pledge, now with the pledge, now they have to spend the money immediately
01:23 because the people have needs.
01:24 A few things, in the short term, we like to provide populations with cash because local
01:28 markets are still working.
01:30 And so people need to be able to buy food or buy the supplies that they need.
01:33 But we also want to be working with farmers.
01:36 Agriculture is still the center of the Sudanese economy.
01:39 Farmlands have been destroyed in this.
01:42 We want to work with farmers to plant for next season, to get seeds, to get resources
01:46 on the ground so that people can build their resilience and that this can come back quickly
01:50 once the fighting is over.
01:52 Finally, we want to make sure that we're providing the support to all the people who are migrating.
01:57 There are 9 million people displaced because of this conflict, most of them within Sudan,
02:02 but another 2.5 million in neighboring countries.
02:05 Those people are at great risk of sexual, gender-based violence and all kinds of other
02:10 atrocities.
02:11 So really working with those populations to ensure their safety as they go to safer ground.
02:17 We've heard so many times about the difficulties of ease of access for aid to get into regions,
02:23 particularly in West Darfur, where the previous Janjaweed militia were reigning supreme.
02:28 Now the rapid support forces are very much in control of that region.
02:32 What kind of difficulties are facing your organization?
02:35 We have access difficulties like others.
02:37 There are also what we call bureaucratic hurdles, so just getting visas or getting permissions.
02:43 That's why we're really encouraging the use of cash because that is a lot easier for us
02:47 to get to populations in need versus food or other in-kind supplies.
02:52 And then in terms of the violent conflict, what have you heard, any kind of stories facing
02:59 your colleagues that are on the ground right now?
03:01 Yeah, our colleagues have told harrowing stories of leaving their homes, going to safer places,
03:06 walking for days to get there, hiding in different things, trying to avoid violence and gunfire.
03:13 And just lots of horrific stories.
03:17 But our colleagues are also excited to keep working, to keep supporting their neighbors
03:21 and their colleagues.
03:22 And how important is this conference in Paris right now?
03:26 Because obviously we've tried the diplomatic route.
03:29 There have been peace talks in Jeddah which have not led to anything fruitful.
03:34 So diplomacy and humanitarian aid has very much taken a center stand here.
03:39 We've heard from Stéphane Ségurnier today, the French foreign minister.
03:42 In terms of your role as humanitarian organizations going forward, how important is this kind
03:48 of event?
03:49 You know, this conference is really important.
03:50 The fact that it's taken a year to even have a conference like this, we are very grateful
03:54 to the conveners of this.
03:56 In addition, though, these countries still need to double down on the diplomatic solutions
04:01 and also making sure that the parties to the conflict provide a safe space for organizations
04:06 like ours to work and re-uphold the rules of -- encourage the actors to uphold the rules
04:12 of humanitarian law, to not be bombing critical civilian infrastructure.
04:17 But this is a very important and welcome step.
04:20 Jada McKenna, thank you so much for joining us here on France 24.
04:23 Thanks to Nadia for just putting a spotlight on this Sudanese conference here in Paris.