Syria Says Approves U.N. $2.9 Billion Humanitarian Aid Plan

Syria said on Wednesday it has approved a United Nations plan to deliver humanitarian aid to millions of people in the war-torn country this year, but warned the only way to the end the crisis was to help Damascus fight terrorism.

The strategic response plan appeals for some $2.9 billion in a bid to help 12.2 million Syrians, more than half the population, who are in need as the country’s civil war approaches its fifth year.

Syrian diplomat Haydar Ali Ahmad told a U.N. Security Council meeting on the humanitarian situation in Syria that the government wanted to ensure that “assistance reaches all those citizens in all parts of Syria without discrimination.”

More than 200,000 people have been killed in Syria’s conflict, which began in March 2011 with popular protests against President Bashar al-Assad and spiraled into civil war after a crackdown by security forces. Terrorist group Islamic State has also seized swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria.

The United Nations says some 7.6 million Syrians are internally displaced, while another 3.8 million have fled the country.

This article appeared in print on page 2 of the January 29th, 2015 edition of Hamodia.