UN makes its largest aid Request in history

Geneva, 08 June 2013: The United Nations on Friday launched a $4.4 billion humanitarian appeal – the largest aid request in the Organization's history – to assist the growing number of people suffering the effects of the bloody conflict in Syria.

“We had hoped we would not have to do it again, but today we are asking for $4.4 billion for the whole of 2013,” Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos said in a joint press conference with other UN officials in Geneva. “That's more than half the combined total of all of our other appeals which cover 16 countries from Afghanistan through to Somalia,” she said.
The appeal, revised from $1.5 billion in January, covers relief activities for the Syria Humanitarian Assistance Response Plan (SHARP) and the Regional Response Plan (RRP).
Of the $4.4 billion, $1.4 billion will go to SHARP, assisting Syrians inside Syria, and $3 billion to RRP, which provides life-saving aid and protection to refugees in the immediate surrounding region. So far, $1.2 billion have been received.

In addition to this, the Governments of Lebanon and Jordan are seeking $450 million and $380 million, respectively, to support the efforts to provide education, health and other services to the refugees who are now in their countries.

“We estimate that 6.8 million people now need urgent help. That is one in three Syrians in need of urgent humanitarian assistance,” Ms. Amos said, adding that between January and April, the number of people displaced in Syria more than doubled. “These are massive figures, but those figures mask a human tragedy.”

“We have now 1.6 million refugees in the countries around Syria but we are receiving 200,000 new refugees every month, 7,000 new refugees every day,” he told the press conference. “We expect that we might reach 3.5 million refugees by the end of the year.”

The World Food Programme’s largest operation is also being conducted in Syria, having delivered 500 million meals so far this year.

The largest donors to the UN for Syria to date are the European Commission, which pledged another 400 million euros last week, followed by Kuwait, the United States, Britain and Japan. Russia and China have contributed $10 million and $1 million respectively to the UN’s program for refugees. Source: UN