The China Mail - Sudan truce holds on second day as donors set to meet in Geneva

The conference comes mid-way through a three-day ceasefire which appeared to have brought calm to the capital Khartoum, after the failure of earlier truces to ensure secure aid corridors.

Several Khartoum residents told AFP they heard no air strikes, artillery or other fighting on Monday, a rare respite for the war-weary suffering shortages of medical care, electricity, water and other essentials.

The army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has since April 15 been battling the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanded by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, after the two fell out in a bitter power struggle.

Across the country, the death toll has topped 2,000, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project said.

Hundreds of kilometres (miles) west of Khartoum, up to 1,100 have been killed in the West Darfur state capital El Geneina alone, according to the US State Department, blaming "primarily" the RSF.

A record 25 million people -- more than half Sudan's population -- are in need of aid, according to the United Nations, which says it has received only a fraction of desperately needed funding.

Roughly 2.2 million people have been uprooted across Sudan by the fighting, which has forced more than 528,000 to seek refuge in neighbouring countries, the International Organization for Migration said.

Monday's conference, which is set to open in the Swiss city at 3:00 pm (1300 GMT), is to address the aid needs both in Sudan and in neighbouring countries, now bearing an increased burden.

The UN will be joined by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the African Union and the European Union in convening the event.

- Aid 'access impeded' -

Donors are expected to "announce financial commitments to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis and reiterate the need for the parties to the conflict in Sudan to adhere to their obligations under International Humanitarian Law," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement.

It said less than 16 percent of the needed $2.6 billion for aid response has been funded, while the regional refugee response plan for $470 million is similarly underfunded.

Despite the lack of money, the looting of aid facilities and the killing of humanitarian workers, aid agencies have increased their response to the tragedy but, according to UN figures, only a fraction of those in need have been reached.

William Carter, Sudan director for the Norwegian Refugee Council, said bureaucratic delays are also hindering the aid response.

On Twitter, he said that about 100 visa applications are still pending from more than 30 organisations.

"We've had a team of 20 on standby for over a month -- we could've helped 200,000 displaced by now," Carter said on the eve of the aid conference.

"It's clear that humanitarian access is impeded but unclear if it's indecision or intention," he added.

The UN, African Union and east African regional bloc IGAD, in a joint statement ahead of the donors' meeting, expressed particular concern about "the rapidly deteriorating situation in Darfur where the conflict has taken on an ethnic dimension, resulting in targeted attacks based on people's identities and subsequent displacement of communities".

On Thursday UN Under-Secretary-General Martin Griffiths said the situation in Darfur is "rapidly spiralling into a humanitarian calamity."

The western region on Sudan's border with Chad has never recovered from a years-long war that began in 2003 with a rebel uprising that prompted then-strongman Omar al-Bashir to unleash the Janjaweed militia. Its actions led to international charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The RSF have their origins in the Janjaweed.

With their 72-hour ceasefire both the RSF and army "agreed to allow the unimpeded movement and delivery of humanitarian assistance throughout the country", US and Saudi mediators said on Saturday.

The mediators repeated a previous warning that they would consider adjourning talks in Jeddah should the truce not be respected.

T.Wu--ThChM