UAE promises $500 million in Sudan aid

The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday promised $500 million in humanitarian aid for Sudan as the Gulf power faces persistent charges of fueling the conflict.

Making the announcement at a donors conference in Washington, senior UAE diplomat Lana Nusseibeh called for an "immediate cessation of hostilities" in Sudan, which has been ravaged by nearly three years of fighting.

The United States, for its part, promised $200 million in the 2026 fiscal year for Sudan, which is suffering one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, including areas of famine.

Massad Boulos, who is President Donald Trump's senior advisor for Africa and also the father-in-law of his daughter, said the goal was to reach $1.5 billion in global aid for Sudan in 2026, equivalent to the level last year.

Despite the repeated failure of international mediation, Boulos held out hope for a humanitarian truce before the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan on February 17.

He said he had "cautious optimism" on reaching a broader peace plan, which he said would have input from the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt and be acceptable to the warring parties.

"We would have hoped to achieve peace earlier. We've amplified our efforts and yet we haven't really achieved that much yet," Boulos said at the conference.

"We think we have a strong peace plan. We must get this to the finish line," he said.

Boulos said the plan would have five pillars starting with the humanitarian truce.

The plan would then turn to protection and the return of civilians followed by a permanent ceasefire, a political transition and then reconstruction of the war-ravaged country.

A number of other countries including Saudi Arabia, a key player on Sudan, promised to step up aid, without offering figures.

Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) went to war in April 2023 after a failed merger plan. Since then, tens of thousands of people have died and around 11 million have been displaced, according to the United Nations.

The UAE has longstanding ties with the RSF and has been accused repeatedly of arming the group, which the United States says has carried out acts of genocide. The UAE denies the allegations.

The conference in Washington came after the army broke a punishing siege that had lasted for much of the war around the South Kordofan state capital Kadugli.