The US State Department on Wednesday announced a $47 million humanitarian assistance package for Sudan and bordering countries.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the aid includes "critical life-saving assistance" such as food, water and sanitation facilities, shelter, medical services such as mental health support and protection for people in Sudan fleeing the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and breakaway Rapid Support Forces.

More than 8 million people have been displaced since the fighting in Sudan escalated in April and nearly 25 million people -- about half of Sudan's population -- are in need of aid, the State Department noted.

The aid, announced after a meeting between Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees, and Migration Julieta Valls Noyes and Chadian Prime Minister Succes Masra will also support neighboring countries, including Chad and South Sudan where more than 1 million Sudanese people have sought refuge.

Miller said that a ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian access will be need to prevent "a famine and long-term catastrophe" in Sudan.

"The United States urges the parties to the Sudan conflict to allow unhindered humanitarian access including both cross-line and cross-border, engage in direct talks, agree to a cease-fire and end hostilities immediately," he said.

Earlier this month, the Carter Center, called on all sides in the Sudan conflict to engage in a ceasefire on the one-year anniversary of the latest outbreak of hostilities.

"The window to prevent the conflict in Sudan from spreading into a regional one is closing," the Carter Center said in a statement.