5.6 billion to help Syria in 2018

Syria will receive $5.6 billion in 2018 from international donors, the UN’s chief of humanitarian affairs and emergency relief said Wednesday at a conference on the issue organized in Brussels and bringing together 85 delegations.

“It’s a good start, even if we would have liked more,” said Lowcock, adding that the United States, one of the largest contributors, had not yet specified the amount of their commitment.

“We will have more promises by the end of the year,” he said, citing previous years.

The conference organizers hoped to raise a total of $11.6 billion for 2018. The United Nations had budgeted $4.5 billion for humanitarian aid in Syria and $7.1 billion to support refugees in Syria. neighboring countries.

We will have to make choices. […] We will have to prioritize the most vulnerable people.

Mark Lowcock, UN Head of Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief

Mark Lowcock thanked Germany and Great Britain for their generous donation.

Germany, like France, has also made commitments over several years. In total, Germany plans to grant $1.3 billion to Syria in the coming years.

“The promises for 2019 and up are $4.4 billion,” Lowcock said.

Canada will contribute $19.5 million to humanitarian aid in Syria and Lebanon. This money is part of the $ 1.6 billion over three years promised by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in February 2016 in response to the crisis in Iraq and Syria, including $840 million for humanitarian aid.

A country destroyed

Last year, the World Bank estimated the damage to the war-torn country to $250 billion ($321 billion)

After eight years of conflict, more than 13 million Syrians need humanitarian assistance, and nearly a quarter of the population, about 5 million, have been displaced to neighboring countries, such as Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, according to the UN.

The representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, emphasized at the conference that the EU, as well as several other countries present, refused to help rebuild Syria as a real step peace process had not been achieved in Geneva between the government of President Bashar Al-Assad and the groups opposing him.

As for Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, he said the living conditions of the Syrians were only getting worse, and that “Lebanon continues to be a big refugee camp”.

Max Ranjit is a reporter for Roswell Gazette.  After graduating from Central New Mexico Community College, Max got an internship at NPR and worked as a reporter and sound engineer.  Max has also worked as a reporter for VICE. Max covers entertainment and community events for Roswell Gazette.

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