Today, Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič is taking part in a high-level side event in the margins of the 79th UN General Assembly Ministerial Week on strengthening the humanitarian response in Sudan and the region.
The event, The Cost of inaction — Urgent and Collective Support to Scale Up the Humanitarian Response in Sudan and the Region, is convened by the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and the African Union. It aims at mobilising support for a robust humanitarian response in Sudan and its neighbouring countries, calling on parties to stop violations of International Humanitarian Law, but also advocating for full, safe and unhindered humanitarian action, so that humanitarian aid can reach those in need.
Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič said: “A humanitarian disaster is unfolding before our eyes in Sudan. With millions displaced and millions facing food insecurity and even famine, with no one safe from gender-based and sexual violence and with atrocities committed by all side – as recently confirmed by the United Nations – we have to urgently boost our humanitarian response. I have asked our budgetary authority to approve additional humanitarian funding for Sudan and the region. However, humanitarian funding is not enough: humanitarians must be guaranteed full and safe access to those in need, so that life-saving aid can be delivered.”
