The UN is seeking $10bn in aid to help Syria, noting that civilians there have continued to face attacks as well as increased hunger and poverty, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to compound the ‘despair and disaster’ of 10 years of civil war.
This new appeal is coming ahead of Tuesday’s Brussels Conference on Syria, an annual event co-hosted by the UN and the European Union.
It includes $4.2bn for the humanitarian response inside Syria and $5.8bn for refugees and their hosts in the Middle East.
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The UN said at least 24 million Syrians need aid today – a rise of four million over the past year and the highest number yet since 2011 when President Bashar al-Assad’s crackdown on pro-democracy protesters resulted in a brutal civil war.
‘It has been 10 years of despair and disaster for Syrians,’ said UN aid chief Mark Lowcock.
‘Now plummeting living conditions, economic decline, and COVID-19 result in more hunger, malnutrition, and disease. There is less fighting, but no peace dividend,’ he said in a statement.
The fighting subsided after Russia and Turkey, which support opposing sides in the conflict, agreed to a ceasefire in Syria’s Idlib a year ago. But Russian air attacks, along with Iranian and Syrian-backed troops, continue to attack rebel outposts.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is set to address the conference on Tuesday.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK