The United States pledged $380 million of supplementary humanitarian aid to Syria, State Secretary John Kerry announced Wednesday at a donors conference held in Kuwait to raise $6.5 billion.
Kuwait's emir pledged $500 million for Syrians stricken by almost three years of civil war. Qatar pledged $60 million and Saudi Arabia is to donate $260 million.
The pledges were made at an international donor conference in Kuwait city attended by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Delegates from 69 nations and 24 international organizations attended the one-day event.
In a speech, Ban revealed shocking statistics. He said half of the Syrian population is now in need of urgent humanitarian assistance and that 40 percent of Syria’s hospitals are no longer functional.
The U.N. is looking for $2.3 billion to support 9.3 million people inside Syria and $4.2 billion for Syrian refugees, expected to nearly double to 4.1 million by year's end. The U.N. has described the $6.5 billion Syria appeal as the largest ever in its history for a single humanitarian emergency.
Non-government charity organizations meeting in Kuwait on Tuesday pledged $400 million for Syrians, with Kuwait promising $142 million of the total.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Kuwait Tuesday following talks in Paris and Rome aimed at preparing the so-called January 22 "Geneva II" peace talks.
An official speaking to reporters travelling with Kerry said Washington had "given more than $1.3 billion to date, of which 700 million has been inside Syria."
According to aid agencies, 10.5 million Syrians are food insecure, more than a million children under five suffer from acute or severe malnutrition, about half the population has no access to adequate water sources or sanitation and 8.6 million have insufficient access to healthcare.
Lebanon is currently home to the largest number of refugees with 905,000, followed by Jordan with 575,000, Turkey 562,000, Iraq 216,000 and Egypt 145,000.
By the end of 2014, these numbers are estimated to rise to 1.65 million in Lebanon, 800,000 in Jordan, 1.0 million in Turkey, 400,000 in Iraq and 250,000 in Egypt.
(With AFP and Reuters)
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/01/15/Kuwait-pledges-500-million-in-Syria-aid-.html
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Conférence des donateurs: le Koweït annonce 500 millions dollars d'aide humanitaire à la Syrie.
L'émir a rappelé que son pays avait déjà apporté 430 millions de dollars d'assistance aux Syriens affectés par le conflit qui a fait plus de 130.000 morts et 2,4 millions de réfugiés depuis près de trois ans.
Il a appelé les participants à la conférence, organisée à l'initiative de l'ONU, à la générosité affirmant que l'objectif devrait être de "sauver les enfants, les femmes et la jeunesse de Syrie".
La réunion intervient une semaine avant la conférence de paix dite de Genève II dont l'objectif est d'aboutir à un accord sur la transition politique en Syrie.
- Les pays donateurs réunis à Koweït cherchent à mobiliser 6,5 milliards de dollars en faveur des victimes de la guerre en Syrie, une levée de fonds présentée par l'ONU comme la plus importante de son histoire pour une situation d'urgence.
L'ONU a indiqué avoir besoin de 2,3 milliards de dollars pour aider 9,3 millions de personnes en Syrie, et 4,2 milliards de dollars pour les réfugiés dont le nombre devrait quasiment doubler, à 4,1 millions en 2014. Belga http://www.rtbf.be/info/monde/detail_conference-des-donateurs-le-koweit-annonce-500-millions-dollars-d-aide-humanitaire-a-la-syrie?id=8176359 15/1/14
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Kuwait announces $500 million pledge to Syria...
ReplyDeleteUN seeking $6.5 billion in aid as international fundraising conference gets underway in Gulf nation.
The UN is appealing for $6.5 billion this year to help Syrians affected the war, its largest-ever funding request for a single crisis. Officials don’t expect to raise the entire amount in Kuwait.
Last year’s donor conference in Kuwait raised more than $1.5 billion in humanitarian aid pledges, and officials are hoping to at least raise that much again this year. Much of that came from Western-allied Gulf states.
Humanitarian needs have escalated dramatically since a similar donor conference in the oil-rich Gulf nation last January.
The United Nations warns that 9.3 million people inside Syria need assistance as the conflict grinds on, including some 6.5 million inside Syria who have been driven from their homes............http://www.timesofisrael.com/kuwait-announces-500-million-pledge-to-syria/#ixzz2qSthKUcN
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Syria conflict: Half population urgently needs aid - UN...
ReplyDeleteUN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says that half of Syria's population, some 9.3 million people, now "urgently need humanitarian aid".
He was speaking at a donor conference in Kuwait which is seeking $6.5bn (£4bn) over the coming year for Syria.
It is the UN's biggest ever request for a single crisis.
Meanwhile, Syria's deputy foreign minister has said Western intelligence agencies have visited Damascus to discuss combating radical Islamists.
'Shared burden'
Mr Ban said the conflict had "set back Syria years, even decades", and he was especially concerned about violence against women and girls and by reports of starvation among besieged communities.
"No country, no people should face hardship or calamity for helping Syrians in need. It is vital for this region and our world that the burden is shared," he said.
Some 6.5 million people are now displaced inside Syria. More than 2.3 million have registered as refugees across the region, many living in camps which are barely coping.
The UN says more than 100,000 people have died since the uprising began in 2011.
By late on Wednesday, the conference had raised $2.4bn in pledges, including:
Kuwait: $500m
Saudi Arabia: $250m
Qatar: $60m
US: $380m in new contributions
EU countries as a whole: $753m
Norway: $75m
The UK pledged a further $164m bringing its total contribution to $985m...................http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-25741225
15/1/14
Heeding UN call for funds, donors pledge $2.4 billion to assist Syrians in need....
ReplyDelete15 January 2014 – Donors at a conference in Kuwait today pledged more than $2.4 billion in response to appeals by United Nations officials for urgent funds to assist millions of people inside Syria and in neighbouring countries affected by the conflict that has raged for nearly three years.
“These pledges prove that the people devastated by this conflict are not forgotten,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said during the Second International Humanitarian Pledging Conference on Syria. “It is also sending a strong signal to the neighbouring countries – that we appreciate their generosity, and that they will not be left to shoulder the burden alone.”
The conflict in Syria, which began in March 2011, has produced “unprecedented” demands for humanitarian and development agencies, Mr. Ban told the gathering earlier, noting that $6.5 billion is needed this year.
An estimated 9.3 million people in Syria, many of them stranded in hard-to-reach and besieged areas, urgently need help, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Nearly half of them are children, who do not have adequate access to health care or education.
More than 3 million people have fled Syria and are taking refuge in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt, causing great hardship and raising tensions throughout the region.
In January 2013, the First Pledging Conference for Syria saw 43 Member States pledge $1.5 billion towards humanitarian efforts. Those funds were used to provide life-saving assistance for millions of people in Syria and surrounding countries, including emergency food rations, mobile medical care and vaccinations, clean water and sanitation, and basic shelter.
“Humanitarian aid is the difference between life and death, hope and despair. It has already assisted millions of people affected by this crisis,” said Mr. Ban. “I count on you to show the Syrian people that the world is here to help.”
Hosted by the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and chaired by the UN Secretary-General, the conference offers the international community to continue supporting the humanitarian response to help the millions affected by the Syria crisis. ..............http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=46932&Cr=syria&Cr1=#.Utb40_sUpqg
15/1/14