The United Nations humanitarian arm has provided nearly $10 million in fresh funding in recent weeks to assist Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan.
The allocation from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) will enable UN agencies and their partners support life-saving assistance, including shelter, emergency food aid, water and sanitation, and clothing, for Syrians uprooted by the fighting in their homeland.
The UN estimates that more than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Syria since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began some 16 months ago. Tens of thousands have also been uprooted from their homes, with many having fled to neighbouring countries.
As of 31 May, the international community is assisting some 25,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon, according to information provided by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which manages the CERF.
The Fund provided nearly $3 million to UN agencies and their partners last week to support assistance for the Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
Some $2 million was provided for similar efforts in Turkey and nearly $4 million for Jordan, over the course of recent weeks.
The total number of assisted Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Iraq stood at 78,137 as of 31 May, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which is leading the humanitarian response by the UN and its partners to the influx of refugees into these countries.
Financed by voluntary contributions from Member States, non-governmental organizations, local governments, the private sector and individual donors, the CERF is a humanitarian fund established by the United Nations to enable more timely and reliable humanitarian assistance to those affected by natural disasters and armed conflicts, helping agencies to pre-position funding for humanitarian action.
It has disbursed more than $2 billion in assistance since it was launched in 2006, making it the world’s largest source of humanitarian funding. It has enabled the fast delivery of life-saving assistance to people affected by natural disasters and other crises in some 80 countries so far.