This year’s edition was aimed at increasing the scale of humanitarian aid offered to Sudan. In this context, Poland pledged a contribution of EUR 1 million to humanitarian activities run by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Sudan as part of the Regional Refugee Response Plan.

During the conference, Deputy Minister Radwan-Röhrenschef stressed that in terms of humanitarian needs, what we are dealing with in Sudan is one of the world’s most difficult situations. “We took in a million Ukrainian refugees, that is why we are perfectly aware of the need to provide appropriate support for those fleeing armed conflicts and of the scale of challenges involved,” Deputy Minister Radwan-Röhrenschef emphasised when speaking about Russia’s war against Ukraine that is dragging on just behind our borders.

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Raging on since April 2023, the Sudan conflict has brought about the world’s largest international refugee crisis to date. Over 30,000 people were killed so far, with 27 million left in need of humanitarian support. An estimated nearly 2 million Sudanese have fled to neighbouring countries (Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Sudan), while 8 million have been internally displaced. Sudan is also hit by the world’s most severe hunger crisis, which affects more than 18 million people.

The Paris conference was attended by, among others, French President Emmanuel Macron, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, Director-General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and Director General of the International Organization for Migration Amy Pope. The conference also brought together representatives of the United Nations, the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the League of Arab States, the Red Cross and the Red Crescent, together with numerous NGOs and international donors.