São Paulo – The Donors Conference for Syria, held this Thursday (4) in London, United Kingdom, resulted in promisses of donations of more than USD 10 billion in aid to the population affected by the civil war in the Arab country, according to British prime minister David Cameron. It’s the largest amount raised in a single day for humanitarian actions concerning the Syrian crisis. The information are from Kuwait News Agency (Kuna).
The conflict has been going on for more than five years already and this is the fourth conference to take place. The three previous ones occurred in Kuwait. “It means millions of people will now receive food, life-saving medical care and shelter in Syria and beyond”, he added.
The Brazilian Foreign Minister, Mauro Vieira, attended the meeting and announced a USD 1.3 million donation to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which he said has already been made available; and 4,500 tons of rice, worth USD 1.85 million, by Brazil’s National Supply Company (Conab).
The rice donation was announced during the conference in 2015, but according to the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, a partner country is needed that can meet the transportation costs. This type of partnership, called twinning, is coordinated by the United Nations World Food Programme.
This year’s conference is a joint effort from the United Kingdom, Kuwait, Norway, Germany and the UN. It was the first meeting of its kind since the Middle East refugee boom in Europe. The funds will be spent on providing aid to Syrian war victims in Syria and neighboring countries.
According to the UN, USD 7.7 billion are needed in order to ensure humanitarian actions associated with the Syria conflict this year.
Donors
Throughout the event, countries and blocs announced their donations. The European Union and its member stages pledged USD 3.2 billion in aid. Germany alone committed to providing USD 2.6 billion, of which USD 1.233 billion should be made available this year. Germany is the most sought country by refugees in Europe.
The United States pledged USD 600 million in humanitarian aid and USD 290 million in aid for education in Jordan and Lebanon, which are sheltering refugees in vast numbers.
Kuwait, the leading fosterer of conferences of this kind, will provide USD 300 million; the UAE will contribute USD 137 million; Australia will supply USD 18 million; Norway will supply USD 1.17 billion over the next four years; and the United Kingdom will disburse USD 1,635 billion by 2020.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani & Gabriel Pomerancblum
