UN: $35m a week needed to feed Syrians

Thirty-five million dollars are needed each week to feed Syrians affected by the civil war, the United Nations said Tuesday, on the eve of an international donor conference it was due to host in Kuwait.The money is needed to provide food to 4.25 million people inside Syria and more than 2.9 million refugees in neighbouring countries, UN World Food Programme spokeswoman Elizabeth Byrs said.” This is the WFP’s most challenging, complex and largest emergency worldwide,” Byrs said in Geneva. The European Union is to contribute 165 million euros (225.5 million dollars), adding to the bloc’s previous contribution of 1.1 billion euros, the EU’s executive body, the European Commission, said.Counting donations from individual member states, total EU aid is set to top 2 billion euros, the commission said.The new aid package, which is to cover medical care, food, water and shelter, is aimed at people inside Syria as well as refugees in neighbouring countries such as Lebanon and Jordan, where the massive refugee influx is placing a heavy burden on infrastructure.“Helping these countries meet the needs of the refugees is not only a matter of solidarity, it is also in the EU’s interest in order to promote stability to the region and avoid further destabilization,” said the EU’s commissioner for neighbourhood policy, Stefan Fule.International charity groups pledged 400 million dollars to assist the refugees, the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) said. Among those to contribute are a number of Kuwaiti charities as well as Britain’s Islamic Relief, and Red Crescent in the United Arab Emirates, the report said.