UAE Minister of International Cooperation and Development, Sheikha Lubna Al-Qasimi said on Tuesday that the total UAE humanitarian aid to Syria in 2012-13 amounted to AED 306.8 million (USD 83.53 million). Sheikha Lubna said the UAE was one of the first countries that answered the needs of the Syrian people, as it provided humanitarian assistance to refugees in neighboring countries, such as Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq, in addition to the internally displaced persons (IDPs) over the last two years, reported the UAE news agency (WAM). With the Syrian crisis approaching its third year, the number of the Syrian refugees reached more than 2.34 million in the neighboring countries, and 4.25 IDPs, according to the UNHCR. Sheikh Lubna added that the largest UAE donation to mitigate the Syrian crisis was a sum of AED 206 million during the past two years, and that the assistance surged from AED 52 million in 2012, to almost fourfold during 2013, to reach about AED 254.68 million. There are more than nine million people in need for urgent humanitarian assistance, especially with the beginning of the harsh winter. The minister commended on the active role of UAE donor organizations to support the Syrian refugees, upon the directives and and under the leadership of UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan. The minister made the remarks at the sidelines of release of the report by the Ministry of International Cooperation and Development on humanitarian assistance provided by UAE and its donor organizations to the Syrian refugees over the last two years. Various UAE humanitarian donors have provided the relief aid, including food items, shelter, education programs, building the Emirati-Jordanian camp, supporting vaccination initiatives, and cooperating with international organizations and international partners in implementing relief projects and initiatives, to alleviate the impact of the crisis on the affected people.