• The UAE pledged $500m to a UN humanitarian fund for Sudan at a donor meeting

• The United States announced an additional $200m contribution

• Washington is pressing for a ceasefire ahead of Ramadan

The United Arab Emirates pledged $500 million to a United Nations fund for humanitarian aid to Sudan. The announcement was made yesterday, Feb. 3 at a donor conference held in Washington, as US diplomacy seeks to secure at least a temporary ceasefire between the warring parties.

US Special Envoy for Africa Massad Boulos said the meeting aimed to mobilize about $1.5 billion in new funding. The United States announced an additional $200 million contribution, while other participating countries did not make specific financial commitments.

Pressure for a ceasefire before Ramadan

Washington is pushing for a truce to be agreed before the start of Ramadan, scheduled for February 17. Boulos acknowledged that progress has been limited since November 2025, when President Donald Trump became directly involved at the request of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The parties to the conflict have accepted neither the principle of a temporary ceasefire nor the political framework proposed by Washington. Fighting continues in several parts of the country, with the latest active front in South Kordofan, where the Sudanese army says it has made recent gains. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions, and fueled the spread of famine nationwide.

UAE’s contested role and humanitarian engagement

The UAE pledge comes as Sudan’s government accuses Abu Dhabi of arming the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group fighting the regular army. Sudan severed diplomatic ties with the UAE in May 2025. While Abu Dhabi denies the allegations, United Nations experts and US lawmakers have described them as credible and have accused the RSF of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

UAE Minister of State Lana Nusseibeh said at the conference that her country wants to see a truce in the conflict. Without addressing the accusations of military support to the RSF, she said Abu Dhabi condemns violations committed by both sides and supports the establishment of an independent civilian government in Sudan.

The UAE has highlighted its humanitarian role, saying it has provided $4.24 billion in aid to Sudan since 2015, including $784 million since the conflict began in 2023. This makes it the country’s second-largest humanitarian donor after the United States, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Abu Dhabi has also recently announced $20 million for the World Food Program and $11 million through the Red Cross to support refugees in Chad, Uganda, Ethiopia, and South Sudan. The scale of this financial commitment strengthens the international humanitarian response while underscoring the ambiguity of the UAE’s position in the Sudan conflict, where aid has become a central diplomatic lever in efforts to reopen the path toward a truce in a war involving multiple regional and international actors.

Olivier de Souza