United Nations agencies and aid organizations have called for greater financial support to combat the humanitarian crisis in war-torn Syria, which has been exacerbated by a major earthquake earlier this year, Ednews reports.
The European Union has pledged a further half a billion euros in aid for Syria amid calls from the United Nations and aid organizations for the international community to step up their response to the humanitarian crisis in the region.
UN agencies have described the needs of the Syrian people as "enormous" and warned that only a tenth of necessary financing has thus far been secured for projects aimed at helping people caught up in the civil war which has been raging since 2011, a situation exacerbated by the deadly earthquakes which struck the region earlier this year.
"We need much greater financial support from the international community," said a joint statement by Martin Griffiths, Filippo Grandi and Achim Steiner, who jointly steer the U.N.-led response to the crisis in Syria.
"More help for the Syrian people and those hosting them is imperative," they said. "The needs are enormous."