By Redha Sardar
ANKARA, March 24 (KUNA) -- A UN official has praised His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah's approval to host the third donors' conference for the Syrian people end of this month.
His Highness the Amir is playing a "decisive humanitarian role" since the eruption of the Syrian crisis, which killed over 220,000 people and forced some 12.5 million people to be either internally displaced or living as refugees in neighboring countries, Kamal Malhotra, UN Resident Coordinator in Turkey, said.
Speaking to KUNA, Malhotra said he conveyed messages to governments through their embassies in Turkey to urge them contribute to the March 31st International Pledging Conference for the Syrian people, also known as Kuwait III.
Malhotra, who said he would be attending the conference, regretted failure of all diplomatic efforts to end the conflict in Syria which was entering its fifth year.
"It is necessary and a humanitarian duty to do something about this crisis," he added.
Malhotra said the UN would be offering a new approach for Kuwait III, which would focus on short-term humanitarian needs and long-term development requirements, ultimately aimed at addressing multi-faceted problems caused by the conflict.
"The crisis in Syria killed more than 200,000 people since 2011," he said, while there were some 12.5 million Syrian people needed urgent aid.
He said there were 3.9 million refugees in Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Egypt, of them 1.7 million in Turkey.
He added that 230,000 refugees were living in camps set up by the Turkish government while 1.5 million refugees live outside the camps.
Malhotra said the Syrian crisis has been facing massive political, humanitarian, development and security challenges, coupled with lack of education and health services.
"The conflict is affecting neighboring countries and the region in a dramatic way," he noted.
The UN official thanked Turkey for supporting the 1.7 million refugees and spending more than USD five billion on their needs including education and health.
He hoped Kuwait III would provide USD 5.5 million for the Syrian refugees in neighboring countries.
The upcoming donors' conference is set to feature participation of 78 countries and over 40 international organizations.
Kuwait hosted the first and second donors' meetings in 2013 and 2014, where total pledges in the first amounted to USD 1.5 billion and USD 2.4 billion in the second. Kuwait pledged USD 300 million in the first conference and USD 500 million in the second. (end) rs.bs