Germany will provide a further $23.6 million to Sudan this year, the Development Ministry said on Wednesday, ahead of an international ​aid conference hosted in Berlin that is aiming to gather more than $1 ​billion in funding commitments.

Sudan’s war between the Sudanese army and the ⁠paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which enters its third year on Wednesday, has caused widespread ​hunger and displaced millions of people amid one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.

The conference ​was aimed at keeping attention on Sudan amid wars raging in Ukraine and Iran, whose effects are felt more acutely by European governments, and the United States’ decreased interest in humanitarian aid, German Foreign ​Minister Johann Wadephul told broadcaster Deutschlandfunk on Wednesday.

“This isn’t a ​quick fix,” he said, “but keeping international attention on the humanitarian situation in Sudan is a substantial contribution ‌to ⁠bringing the war to an end.”

Wadephul said Germany was speaking with both warring parties, but neither side was attending the conference because they had not agreed to a ceasefire.

The Sudanese government on Wednesday called the conference plans a “surprising and unacceptable” interference in ​its internal affairs and ​warned that engaging ⁠with paramilitary groups would undermine state sovereignty.

Germany aimed to gather funding pledges of at least $1 billion, added Wadephul.

–Reuters–