UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will open an international donors’ conference on Sudan in Geneva today as a 72-hour ceasefire between the country’s warring factions enters its second day.
The UN is organising the event in conjunction with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Germany.
The Qatari foreign ministry said on Sunday that the conference will “support the humanitarian response in Sudan and the region”.
The people there are in “desperate need”, Dominique Hyde from the UN’s refugee agency told the BBC’s Newsday programme.
She said that aid agencies need about $2.5bn (£1.95bn) and only 16% has so far been pledged.
The Sudanese “should receive the same support as was seen for Ukrainians, Afghanis or Syrians”, Ms Hyde added.
Sudan was meanwhile reportedly “completely calm” on Sunday, the first day of a new 72-hour ceasefire between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The temporary suspension of fighting took effect at 06:00 local time (04:00 GMT) and was announced on Saturday by mediators Saudi Arabia and the US.
The UN said in a statement Sunday that some 1.7 million people were internally displaced in Sudan as a result of the conflict.
About 500,000 others have sought refuge in neighbouring countries.
The UN and others have expressed concern over “the rapidly deteriorating situation in Darfur where the conflict has taken on an ethnic dimension”.
