(15 Apr 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
AGENCY POOL
Paris – 15 April 2024
++SOUNDBITES SEPARATED BY BLACK FRAMES++
1. Various of French President Emmanuel Macron entering and greeting attendees at Sudan conference
2. Macron arriving at podium, embracing participant
3. SOUNDBITE (French) Emmanuel Macron, French President:
"Our primary commitment is to support the civilian population affected by the conflict. Today significant resources have been mobilised thanks to you and in total we can announce that more than 2 billion euros (USD$2.126 billion) have been pledged in favour of the men and women of Sudan. Before this conference, we had 190 million euros (USD$202 million) in pledges. Tonight we are at 2 billion euros for Sudan."
++BLACK FRAMES++
4. SOUNDBITE (French) Emmanuel Macron, French President:
"The hallmark of our commitment is going to enable a response to the most urgent needs in the sectors of food security and nutrition, health, water, sanitation, education, for the protection of the most vulnerable population."
++BLACK FRAMES++
5. SOUNDBITE (French) Emmanuel Macron, French President:
"Today, from this mobilisation, all of our presence, it sends a clear message we are sending to the belligerents. We are making a solemn appeal out of respect for international humanitarian rights and for the protection of the civil population. We are exhorting them to install a ceasefire without delay in order to enable humanitarian organisations to reach the entirety of those Sudan who are in need. We are calling for the reopening of every entry point along the borders to enable the transport and efficient delivery of aid. No zone should remain isolated. Access to humanitarian aid mustn’t be instrumentalised for military ends."
++BLACK FRAMES++
6. SOUNDBITE (French) Emmanuel Macron, French President:
"We condemn without reservation, attacks directed against civilians, against basic infrastructure, against health centres, humanitarian workers, whose protection must be guaranteed. I’m going to address here parties to the conflict. War crimes will not go unpunished because it is your fellow citizens who are suffering them."
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:
World donors pledged more than $2.1 billion in humanitarian aid for Sudan after a yearlong war that has pushed its population to the brink of famine, French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday.
Macron spoke at the end of an international conference in Paris aimed at drumming up support for Sudan’s 51 million people. The aid will go to food, water, medicines and other urgent needs, he said, without providing a specific timeline.
Top diplomatic envoys, U.N. officials and aid agencies urged Sudan’s warring parties to stop attacks on civilians and allow access for humanitarian aid, and called for immediate international mediation efforts toward peace.
Members of Sudan’s civil society took part in the Paris meeting, but neither the Sudanese army nor its rival paramilitary were represented.
"Today, from this mobilisation, all of our presence, it sends a clear messages we are sending to the belligerents. We are making a solemn appeal out of respect for international humanitarian rights and for the protection of the civil population," Macron said at the conference.
Sudan descended into conflict in April last year when simmering tensions between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere across the country.
More than 14,000 people have been killed and at least 33,000 have been wounded in the yearlong war.
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