UN announces largest ever humanitarian appeal
The UN haslaunched a US$5 billion appeal for Syria, the largest emergency funding call in its history. Save the Children
says gaining access to the millions of children trapped in Syria and at acute risk from the conflict must become the
international community’s priority.
Save the Children New Zealand Chief Executive Heather Hayden said, “What the UN announced today was the price tag of our
collective political failure to end this conflict. But money alone will not be enough: the international community must
make securing better access for aid agencies to the worst affected areas of Syria an urgent priority. It is the children
of Syria who are bearing the real cost of this war. Growing numbers are being killed and maimed, denied education and
forced to flee their homes.”
According to the latest UN report, massacres are now happening inside Syria at the rate of one a week. Nothing can undo
the horrors that children in Syria have faced, but full access must be granted to humanitarian organisations to get aid
to those most desperately in need.
Save the Children New Zealand has given $160,000 to help those in Syria in need of immediate humanitarian assistance.
This money has been combined with that of other countries to get maximum impact and reach more people. Save the Children
is helping across the region in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and in Syria, providing food vouchers, food and daily bread
distribution. On the borders they are also providing warm clothes, healthcare, and education as well as safe play spaces
where children can feel safe and get the emotional support they need.
ENDS