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Friday, September 20, 2013

Syrian Aid $2.7 Billion Short; Donor Countries Accused of Failing Ordinary Syrians


The world's top donors are as much as $2.7 billion short in aid money for Syrians affected by the ongoing civil war crisis, a report by international aid agency Oxfam has revealed.

"Too many donor countries are not delivering the level of funds that is expected of them," said Colette Fearon, head of Oxfam Syria program. "While economic times are tough, we are facing the largest man-made humanitarian disaster in two decades and we have to seriously address it. The scale of this crisis is unprecedented and some countries must start to show their concerns to the crisis in Syria by putting their hands in their pockets."

The two-and-a-half year civil war in Syria between President Bashar al-Assad's forces and rebel fighters has been called "the great tragedy" of the 21st century by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in which over 100,000 people have lost their lives and over 2 million have fled as refugees.

The world's attention was especially gripped by the chemical weapon attacks on civilians in August, which killed over 1,429 people, including more than 400 children. World powers such as the U.S. and Russia have clashed over the proper response to the mass killing, and are currently working out a deal to have Assad surrender Syria's chemical weapons by 2014.

And while Oxfam has urged the world's powers to come up with a political solution to the crisis, the agency is warning that important donors such as France, Qatar and Russia must also play their part in funding close to $5 billion in appeals for aid from the U.N. The research is based on data from the U.N.'s Financial Tracking Service, the U.N. Central Emergency Response Fund, ECHO (The European Commission's Humanitarian Aid Department), and other bilateral contributions confirmed by donors. Keep reading

Also see
Christian leaders urge churches to mobilise behind Syria peace plan

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