US President Barrack Obama announced on Tuesday the United States will provide $339 million in additional U.S. humanitarian aid to support those affected by the ongoing crisis in Syria. This brings the total U.S. funding for humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people to over $1.3 billion since the crisis began. The United States is providing food, clean water, shelter, medical care, and relief supplies to over 4.2 million people inside Syria, as well as to the more than two million refugees across the region, the State Department said in a pres release.
The US funding will also bolster the hospitality of the governments of the region providing refuge to the children, women and men displaced by the violence. Hosting this vulnerable population places heavy economic and social strains on local communities and national governments. The United States urged all governments to increase their contributions to the international humanitarian effort for survivors of Syrian violence and to keep their borders open to those fleeing the violence.
The US aid will support the activities of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Food Program (WFP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and international and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), both within Syria and for the regional refugee response in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, and Egypt.
The countrywide allocation of the money is as follows: Syria - Nearly $161 million, Lebanon - More than $74 million, Jordan - more than $48 million, Iraq: more than $24 million, Turkey - more than $25 million, and Egypt - nearly $6 million.
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