International donors pledged 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in humanitarian aid for Sudan at a conference in Berlin on Wednesday, marking the third anniversary of a civil war that has become one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the anniversary "a tragic milestone in a conflict that has shattered a country of immense promise," adding that "this nightmare must end." The gathering drew more than 60 delegations, including around a dozen foreign ministers, and aimed both to mobilise funding and to explore pathways toward a peace process.

Sudan's war began in April 2023 when fighting erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a group that had grown out of the Janjaweed militias. The power struggle between the two factions — both products of decades of authoritarian military rule — has since displaced more than 4.5 million people inside the country and left nearly 34 million in need of humanitarian assistance. Systematic sexual violence against women and girls has been widely documented. Germany, which hosted the conference, announced a contribution of 212 million euros ($250 million). Neither warring party was invited to attend; organisers framed the event as a forum for outside actors to align positions ahead of any future peace process, with Sudanese civil society representatives given space to participate.

Sudan's government rejected the conference outright, with its Ministry of Foreign Affairs denouncing it as a "colonial tutelage approach" and warning that it would not accept international bodies convening to "decide on its affairs" without Khartoum's participation. The ministry also objected to what it described as equating the national army with a "criminal, multinational terrorist militia." The RSF made no direct comment on the conference, though it acknowledged the war's anniversary on social media. African Union chairman Mahmoud Ali Youssou, who attended, called for an immediate ceasefire, saying it was "essential" and expressing concern about divisions within Sudan's civilian political camp.

Analysts point to a largely hidden economic engine sustaining the conflict: gold. Sudan is one of Africa's largest gold producers, and investigations have revealed a war economy built around militia-controlled mines, regional smuggling routes through Chad and Libya, and opaque trading networks funnelling gold to Gulf markets, particularly Dubai. Front companies and cargo networks operating through countries such as the Central African Republic are reportedly used to simultaneously supply armed groups with weapons and extract mineral wealth, making the conflict financially self-sustaining and difficult to trace.

Critical observers noted that while the Berlin conference struck the right tone, it left the central question unanswered: what would it take to convince the warring parties to stop fighting? Both sides have external backers but are not proxies easily steered by outside pressure — they are, in the words of one analysis, two powerful wings of the same entrenched military establishment that has dominated Sudan for decades. Humanitarian access, civilian protection and a Sudanese-led political transition all depend on a ceasefire that neither side has shown any willingness to accept. Without a credible answer to that question, observers warned, the Berlin conference risks joining a growing list of well-intentioned gatherings — in Paris, in London — that produced declarations but not peace.