New York, United States - December 19, 2024 A Chinese envoy on Thursday urged the international community to listen to the Sudanese people's urgent call for peace and work together to create conditions for a proper solution of the Sudan issue. Sudan has been gripped by a devastating conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since mid-April 2023, which has killed 28,700 people and displaced over 14 million others, either inside or outside Sudan, according to the latest estimates by international organizations. Speaking at a UN Security Council Meeting on Sudan, Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, said that the international community should work together to promote ceasefire, enhance mediation efforts, and ease the humanitarian situation. He noted that the situation in Sudan should be cooled as soon as possible to protect the safety of civilians to the greatest extent. Also speaking at the meeting, Edem Wosornu, director of the Operations and Advocacy Division at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that Sudan faces "a crisis of staggering scale and cruelty". Noting that a large number of civilians have been killed, injured, and displaced, the risk of famine persists and diseases such as cholera have spread, she calling for sustained and urgent attention from the international community. Shotlist: UN Headquarters, New York City - Dec 19, 2024: FILE: UN Headquarters, New York City - June 29, 2023 1. UN headquarters building; FILE: UN Headquarters, New York City - Date Unknown 2. UN emblem; 3. UN flag; UN Headquarters, New York City - Dec 19, 2024 4. Meeting in progress; 5. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to UN: "As the conflict in Sudan drags on, a large number of refugees flock to neighboring countries. The humanitarian pressure faced by some relevant countries continues to increase. The international community should strengthen its humanitarian support to countries which receive and host large numbers of refugees in a targeted manner and jointly cope with the impact. It must be emphasized that any international humanitarian action must fully respect the reasonable concerns of the Sudanese government in terms of sovereignty and security, and should abide by the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence, avoid using humanitarian excuses to exert unreasonable pressure, and must not use this as an excuse to seek selfish political interest."; FILE: Khartoum, Sudan - July 5, 2023 6. Various of dense smoke rising from conflict zone; FILE: Sudan - Date Unknown 7. Various of houses; smoke billowing; FILE: Sudan - Date Unknown 8. Collapsed buildings; FILE: Metropolitan Area of Khartoum, Sudan - 2023 9. Burnt car, rubble; FILE: Greater Capital Area, Sudan - 2023 10. Various of charred vehicles. [Restriction - For news purpose only/No archive/Not for other production use, No access Chinese mainland/Al-Arabiya TV/Middle East Broadcasting Center]