UN appeals for record $16bn in aid
The UN appealed yesterday for $16.4 billion (13.4 billion euros) to provide aid to nearly 60 million people worldwide next year, with almost half the amount aimed at helping victims of Syria's drawn-out conflict.
"The rising scale of need is outpacing our capacity to respond," warned United Nations humanitarian chief Valerie Amos, stressing that 2014 has been marked by a sharp rise in the number of people affected by violent conflicts.
Some 102 million people worldwide were in need of aid at the end of November, she told reporters in Geneva.
The global appeal from UN agencies and other humanitarian organisations aims to gather funds to help at least 57.5 million of the most vulnerable across 22 countries.
Yesterday's appeal did not however include the needs in Djibouti and the nine countries in Africa's Sahel region, including Nigeria and Mali, which will be addressed in a separate appeal in February, the UN said.
A full $7.2 billion of the amount requested for 2015 will be aimed at helping an estimated 18.2 million people victimised by Syria's bloody civil war, which erupted in March 2011.
The appeal is calling for $2.8 billion to help 12.2 million people inside the war-ravaged country next year, including 7.6 million people who have been internally displaced.
Another $4.4 million will be needed to help more than three million Syrian refugees and some three million vulnerable people in overwhelmed host communities in neighbouring countries, the appeal said.
Helping millions of people affected by other crises will also require a large cash injection next year, with Syria's neighbour Iraq figuring high on the list.
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