LOC13:59
10:59 GMT
By Nawab Khan
BRUSSELS, March 30 (KUNA) -- The EU's top-most humanitarian aid official has paid tremendous tribute to Kuwait's humanitarian aid efforts and underlined that the 28-member bloc will pledge a substantial amount at the third international humanitarian pledging conference for Syria in Kuwait on March 31.
"Last year at the Kuwait II conference on Syria, the European Commission pledged the biggest contribution with 515 million euro (around USD 560 million). This year I will be announcing a substantially higher pledge. I am sure our member states will also pledge substantial aid. The EU intends to remain the leading donor," EU Commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management, Christos Stylianides, told KUNA in an interview.
"Kuwait's role has been critical in these efforts. All of us recognize these very critical efforts from the Kuwait side. I want to express my deepest appreciation to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah for the vital role that he plays not just in organizing this conference for the third consecutive year but also for the generous contribution to the humanitarian funding for this crisis," he noted.
This initiative by Kuwait to host the third conference for Syria "is very welcome by the international community," said the EU official who leaves on Sunday for Kuwait to take part in the conference.
"The big event in Kuwait is another signal from the international community which is struggling to respond to the continuously growing needs in the Syrian crisis," he said.
"My message there will be very strong about the EU's political and humanitarian stance. The EU remains committed to the people of Syria and the region," stressed Stylianides who hails from Cyprus.
"Our solidarity is long-term solidarity. EU is the largest contributor to the Syrian crisis despite of severe economic hardships in Europe itself," he said and appealed to other donors to step up their efforts because the Syrian people are "counting on us."
He added, "it is only through global partnership including from the Arab and the Muslim world that we can make a difference to resolve the biggest humanitarian catastrophe since World War II.
"I hope that Kuwait's example will be followed by many other donor's not only in the Middle East but worldwide," said the EU Commissioner.
He lamented that the situation on the ground in the Syrian crisis continues to get worse and more complicated and added that since the start of the crisis in Syria, more than 12 million people have been forced to flee their homes.
This figure, he noted, amounts to the combined population of six EU countries, Cyprus, Malta, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Ireland.
This number includes four million who fled to neighbouring countries and are total refugees now, he said and noted that the number of Syrian refugees increased by 30 percent since last year due to absence of any political solution to the crisis.
"I strongly believe that in humanitarian problems we need political solutions. The international community should mobilize all its forces and determination to achieve a political solution as soon as possible. If we fail who knows what happens next," he warned.
He stated that the crisis in Syria and Iraq are a global threat and the consequences will be tragic if we don't have a political solution soon.
Stylianides said he has visited the Syrian refugee camps in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan and saw the situation on the ground.
He praised the neighbouring countries as host communities who accepted huge a burden and displayed a huge generosity.
"I want to say thank you to these neighbouring countries," he said.
The EU has so far contributed over 3.35 billion euros in humanitarian aid for the Syrian crisis which is a strong proof for its commitment, said the EU official.
He hoped that this year's conference in Kuwait would be the last for the Syrian refugees and that next time the conference would be for the reconstruction of the country.
"It's high time to turn the historic clock to the development needs than to the emergency funds," Stylianides told KUNA. (end)
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