The United Nations is calling on the global community to allocate $270 million in order to provide vital humanitarian support to Syrian refugees and internally displaced persons,
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th September, 2018) The United Nations is calling on the global community to allocate $270 million in order to provide vital humanitarian support to Syrian refugees and internally displaced persons, Babar Baloch, a spokesman for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said on Tuesday.
"UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is increasingly troubled at a looming severe funding shortfall for our work with our partners in support of the millions of Syrian refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs). Some US$270 million is urgently needed to ensure that the most vulnerable among Syria's refugees and internally displaced do not go without vital protection and assistance this year. These funds include critical preparations for the oncoming winter," Baloch said as quoted in a published statement.
He specified that while $196.5 million was necessary to continue the UNHCR's support programs for over 5.6 million Syrians, including 2.6 million children, registered in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, the UNHCR also required $73 million to address the pressing needs of up to 1.8 million internally displaced Syrian refugees.
The aid programs envisage the improvement of healthcare and education situations, as well as the provision of shelter to the refugees.
According to Baloch, up to $96 million will be used for providing safe drinking water to 1.3 million refugees, while $36 million could ensure medical services provision for around 35,000 Syrians.
"Urgent funding is also needed to keep the most essential protection activities going across the region including support for civil documentation, child protection activities, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) prevention and response, and legal assistance," Baloch added.
He went on to say that while the UNHCR required a total of $1.97 billion for assistance to the Syrian refugees in 2018, only $610 million had been received as of September, which accounted for just 31 percent of the necessary sum of money,
"Quick disbursement of existing pledges and commitments as well as additional funding is essential for managing the humanitarian response of this scale in a flexible and timely manner. It is imperative to avoid more suffering and more uncertainty for a population that has endured so much," Baloch concluded.
Syria has been in a state of civil war between the government and numerous opposition and terrorist organizations since 2011. Damascus is currently focused on rebuilding Syria and creating favorable conditions for the refugees' return, which the global community is contributing to.
