UN out to raise $6.5 billion for Syrians at Kuwait meet

Kuwait City: Delegates from some 60 nations meet in Kuwait on Wednesday at a UN donors conference which aims to raise a whopping $6.5 billion (4.7 billion euros) in aid for more than 13 million Syrians affected by war.

The UN has described the appeal as the largest ever in its history for a single humanitarian emergency.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon will chair the one-day ministerial-level Second International Pledging Conference for Syria, which will be opened by Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah.

UN Secretary General and Regional Humanitarian Coordinator Nigel Fisher has told Kuwait's official KUNA news agency that the funds will be used to aid some 13.4 million Syrians whom the United Nations estimates will be affected by the Syrian civil war by the end of 2014.

The figure is higher than the original 10 million people announced by the United Nations seven months ago.

The United Nations will need $2.3 billion to support 9.3 million people inside Syria and $4.2 billion for Syrian refugees, expected to nearly double to 4.1 million by year's end, the UN official said.

The donors' conference comes just a week before the so-called 'Geneva 2' peace meeting aimed at finding a political solution to the 34-month conflict, which has claimed 130,000 lives.

The Swiss talks have been organised in an attempt to revive a long-stalled framework for peace involving a cessation of hostilities and the creation of a national transitional government that could involve figures from the current regime and the opposition.

Ahead of his arrival in Kuwait City, Ban warned that the humanitarian situation in Syria has been deteriorating and called on donor nations to help meet the target.

The situation has reached a "very serious... and critical" level, Ban said in an interview with KUNA.

"Almost half the population has been affected... 40 per cent of the hospitals have been destroyed and another 20 per cent not functioning properly. This is a very sad situation.

"I sincerely hope that member states will come (to the Kuwait Conference) with generous helping hands" for the Syrian people inside and outside the country, he said.