Donors pledge over $1.5bn to help Syrians

Al Jazeera ^ | January 30, 2013 | staff

[bert]

Donor countries have pledged more than $1.5 billion for Syrians displaced by nearly two years of fighting, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, after a donor conference in Kuwait.

Ban told the final session of the one-day conference that the meeting has "reached its target" of $1 billion of aid for Syria's neighbours hosting refugees and another $500 million to fund humanitarian work for 4 million Syrians afflicted by the civil war inside the country.

But the funds are only expected to cover the coming months, highlighting the massive burden to cope with needs from Syria's civil war and its spillover in the region.

The pledges also will likely face close scrutiny on how quickly the money will reach over-stretched aid groups directed by the UN and other agencies.

Officials in Egypt and elsewhere have complained that many generous international offers for help after the Arab Spring upheavals have not yet materialised.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon opened the gathering by calling for an end to the fighting "in the name of humanity," yet noted that the fighting shows no signs of easing and crises such as the refugee exodus to places such as Turkey and Jordan could intensify.

snip.....

But the meeting leveraged more pledges. Kuwait's ruler, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, promised $300 million in a move that was quickly matched by Gulf partners Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which are all major backers of Syrian rebel factions.

On Tuesday, the European Union and the US promised a total of nearly $300 million.

[bert]

Still no report on the Iranian nuclear facility explosion

[Uncle Miltie]

So why did 0bummer give the Jihadis $155,000,000.00 U.S. Dollars today?

That’s only 10% of what the Jihadi supporters in the Arabian Peninsula gave.

Is this Hussein’s Sunni Zakat?

[Venturer]

More money for the Muslim Brotherhood.