Spain, EU pledge peacekeeping, humanitarian aid for Sudan
June 25, 2007 (PARIS) — Spain Monday pledged EUR10 million in aid for Sudan, with half for the hybrid African Union-U.N. peacekeeping force and the rest for humanitarian aid.
The European Union’s development chief, Louis Michel, said it was preparing EUR31 million in additional humanitarian aid.
The pledges were made at a summit of two dozen countries gathered in Paris to try to push forward peace efforts for the Sudanese region.
Earlier, France pledged an additional EUR10 million to the existing – and cash-strapped – AU force.
Sudan wasn’t invited to the one-day conference, attended by 18 countries, U.N. Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, the E.U. and others. Officials from the Sudanese government in Khartoum have said Monday’s conference could backfire and cause more harm than good.
More than 200,000 people have died in the Darfur region of western Sudan and 2.5 million have become refugees since 2003, when local rebels took up arms against the Sudanese government, accusing it of decades of neglect. Sudan’s government is accused of unleashing in response a militia of Arab nomads known as the janjaweed – a charge Sudan denies.
Notable absences, other than Sudan, include the African Union and neighboring Chad, which has seen an influx of tens of thousands of people fleeing Darfur and is a key conduit for aid.
(AP)