סיריאַן קריזיס: אי.יו. פּלעדזשיז נאָך Funding פֿאַר כיומאַנאַטעריאַן הילף ווי דאַרף פאָרזעצן צו העכערונג

The European Commission will pledge an extra €165 million for vital humanitarian assistance and for areas such as education and support to host communities and local societies for 2014 at the International Pledging Conference for Syria in Kuwait on 15 January. This will bring the total funding since the start of the crisis to over €1.1 billion, including €615m in life-saving humanitarian aid alone. 

Before leaving for the Conference, International Co-operation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva said: "Unfortunately this is for the second year in a row that I will be attending a vital pledging conference for Syria.The Syrian people continue to endure a tragic ordeal. The numbers of refugees and internally displaced people have increased four and five-fold respectively in the past twelve months. People who have remained inside Syria, where violence and death are a daily occurrence, are fighting for survival. Those who have fled across the borders are dealing with extreme hardships, in spite the unfaltering generosity of their hosts who are also reeling under the burden of the never-ending flow of refugees, now more than 2.3 million."

"In Kuwait I will use this opportunity to encourage additional pledges from the international community. The European Union as a whole has been the largest donor to this crisis, providing more than €2bn to date. I hope that other donors will demonstrate their solidarity with the innocent victims of this war. This is the only way to avoid an even greater deterioration in this massive humanitarian crisis "I will also once again repeat the absolute need to respect International Humanitarian Law and to apply humanitarian principles at all times when delivering assistance. Access within Syria is still the major hurdle to reaching the vulnerable and I appeal to all parties to the conflict to facilitate the delivery of aid to wherever it is needed."

Commissioner Štefan Füle, responsible for the European Neighbourhood Policy added: "Only last summer we mobilized an extra €400m to help Syrian refugees and countries affected by the Syrian crisis. When we promise, we deliver - for the Syrians but also for the host communities in neighbouring countries. Lebanon and Jordan are facing immense challenges as a result of the crisis and massive refugees influx. Helping these countries meet the needs of the refugees is not only a matter of solidarity; it is also in the EU's interest in order to promote stability to the region and avoid further destabilization".

The additional funding will boost life-saving and ongoing assistance both inside Syria and in the heavily burdened neighbouring countries. The assistance will include emergency medical response, with both medical and psycho-social care to the wounded and the traumatized, especially children; provision of food and safe water; provision of shelter, registration and thus protection of refugees. Aid will continue to be provided to the displaced and refugees - who often arrive destitute – as well as to their host communities, whose resources are now stretched to breaking point. The assistance will be channelled through the European Commission's humanitarian partners: UN agencies, the Red Cross/Red Crescent family and international non-governmental organizations.

שער דעם אַרטיקל: