U.N. appeals for nearly $8 bln for Syria aid
The aid will also reach some four million people in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon who are hosting millions of Syrian refugees
With the war in Syria headed for a sixth year, U.N. agencies on Tuesday appealed for $7.73 billion in funding to help 22.5 million people affected by the conflict.
The appeal for funds from U.N. member-states covers help for 13.5 million Syrians displaced inside the war-wracked country and 4.7 million who have fled across the border to neighboring countries.
The aid will also reach some four million people in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon who are hosting millions of Syrian refugees, said a U.N. statement.
International donors will be asked to come forward with large pledges at a conference on Syria’s humanitarian crisis in London on February 4.
“After nearly six years of brutal conflict and political paralysis, the Syrian people need our help more than ever,” said U.N. aid chief Stephen O’Brien.
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi stressed that Syria’s neighbors were shouldering the biggest burden from the refugee crisis and said funding must be directed at them.
More than a million refugees, many from Syria, crossed into Europe last year after conditions in camps deteriorated, with cuts to food rations and other aid.
Last year, U.N. agencies asked for $8.4 billion from governments worldwide to fund the Syrian aid effort, but received only $3.3 billion of that amount.
The appeal for Syria is part of a part of a wider 2016 humanitarian appeal, asking for $20.1 billion to reach 87 million people in need of aid around the world.
-
Global aid to Syrians ‘utterly inadequate’
Aid group Oxfam says only a ‘handful’ of countries have been providing their fair share Middle East -
Syria needs constitutional reform, says Putin
Putin said Russian military aid was going to help parts of the Syrian opposition in the fight against ISIS Middle East -
Aid convoy reaches starving Madaya
An aid convoy entered the Syrian town of Madaya, where more than two dozen people have reportedly starved to death Middle East -
Starving besieged Syrian towns to receive aid
A six month blockade of Madaya by the Syrian army and Hezbollah has trapped about 40,000 residents now enduring a harsh winter Middle East -
13.5 million Syrians in need of humanitarian aid
The council expressed "outrage" at the escalating violence in Syria and grave distress at "the devastating humanitarian situation" Middle East -
Aid reaches Syrian rebel-held area of Homs
The delivery of the humanitarian aid was a sign that the second ceasefire agreement in Homs was beginning to be implemented Middle East -
Medical aid for 29,500 reaches besieged Syrians, no evacuations
Emergency supplies for 29,500 people arrived in four besieged Syrian towns on Sunday under a local ceasefire agreement but no one was evacuated Middle East