Abu Dhabi: The UAE has pledged $360 million (Dh1.3 billion) to support Syrian relief efforts to help alleviate the plight of millions of Syrians caught in the country’s three-year war, Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of International Cooperation and Development, said yesterday.
“Out of the UAE’s donations offered in the last two international donor conferences, $110 million has already been spent,” Shaikha Lubna told a news conference held at the ministry’s headquarters.
Speaking of the break-up of the second tranche of UAE’s relief aid of $60 million pledged during the second international donor conference, held in Kuwait in January, Shaikha Lubna said $50 million will be allocated for meeting the needs of internally displaced Syrians, while the remaining amount of $10 million will be for Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries.
Some $20 million will be allocated for the World Food Programme, to meet food security needs of the internally displaced people and $15 million will be allotted for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, in response to food security needs of the Palestinian refugees inside Syria, according to Shaikha Lubna.
Shaikha Lubna said $13 million will be offered to Unicef and the World Food Programme to meet the nutrition needs of children under five years old and pregnant and nursing women.
One million dollars will be offered to the World Health Organisation in response to health-care requirement of the internally displaced Syrians, and another million dollars will be granted to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Of the $10 million relief aid for Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries, $5 million will be offered to the World Food Programme to meet food security needs, $3 million for water and sanitation projects and $2 million to meet health-care requirements.
GCC and Western states have pledged more than $2.4 billion in emergency aid to help alleviate the plight of millions of Syrians caught in the country’s three-year war.
The second international donor conference raised one-third of the $6.5 billion the UN says is needed this year to meet the growing humanitarian crisis.
UN statistics put the number of Syrian refugees at 2.6 million in neighbouring countries, with more than nine million in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.
The World Food Programme said it is concerned that up to 6.5 million people inside Syria might be severely food insecure and cannot afford to buy food due to the conflict.
The UN agency is appealing for close to $2 billion to assist over seven million Syrians in urgent need of food assistance in 2014. These include 4.25 million people inside Syria and over 2.9 million refugees in neighbouring countries.
The UAE is one of the first countries that responded to the Syrian crisis, as it provided humanitarian assistance to the Syrian refugees in the neighbouring countries, such as Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq, in addition to internally displaced persons (IDP) over the last two years.
His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, told a Cabinet meeting on Monday the UAE’s participation in development and relief efforts around the world is a permanent element of the country’s diplomacy that future generations will inherit with pride and appreciation.
The UN World Food Programme welcomed a generous contribution of $31 million from the Government of the UAE towards its emergency humanitarian operations in Syria. “We are very grateful for this extremely timely contribution from the UAE Government. For WFP, this funding comes at a critical time, as we work to meet the ongoing food assistance needs of nearly 7 million Syrians who have been worn down by the three-year conflict,” said WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin.
Last month, a lack of funding forced WFP to reduce by 20 per cent the March food basket provided to vulnerable families inside Syria. As a result, families did not receive sufficient nutrients to stay healthy (1,530 kilocalories, compared with the planned 1,920 kilocalories.)
The UAE donation will allow WFP to continue to provide food assistance to vulnerable people impacted by the conflict. “This significant investment demonstrates the generosity of the UAE and its people as they lead by example, shouldering the burden of a crisis that has gone beyond the borders of Syria. Your support also reflects humanitarian solidarity with the countries hosting refugees. You are saving lives of innocent children, vulnerable men and women,” Cousin said. WFP has appealed for $2 billion to feed around 7 million Syrians displaced in their country or have fled to neighbouring countries.
