KUWAIT, Sept 1 (KUNA) -- A meeting of nations concerned with the humanitarian crisis in Syria aims to examine conditions in the war-torn nation and lay out plans to deal with the crisis, Chairman of the International Islamic Charitable Organization (IICO) Dr. Abdullah Al-Matouq said Thursday.
Al-Matouq was speaking at the eighth meeting of "Key Donors for Syria", with representatives of nations neighboring Syria, United Nations (UN) coordinators and a representative of the World Bank in attendance.
Moreover, Al-Matouq, who is also the UN Secretary General's Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs, said that the meeting has been called to follow the latest happenings since the fourth International Syria Donors Conference in London in February. "This meeting is held as some parties involved in the conflict insist on perpetuating violence, where residential areas are being shelled and innocent lives killed, particularly, in Aleppo," Al-Matouq said. Furthermore, Al-Matouq added that "there are more than a million people living in Aleppo amidst worsening humanitarian conditions that continue to deteriorate each day, as around 300,000 people are trapped by the violence since July." Speaking on a solution to the conflict, the IICO Chairman noted that "humanitarian work is not suffice to overcome these challenges," as he pressed the international community to push for a halt in violence.
In addition, he called on nations concerned with the crisis in Syria to keep their end of the bargain to ensure progress in humanitarian conditions there.
Deputy Foreign Minister Jamal Al-Ghanim said that the crisis in Syria has seen persistent military escalation as the number of fatalities continues to rise. "UN statistics show that there are a total of 4.8 million Syrian refugees, in addition to 13.5 million people in dire need of humanitarian aid," he noted.
Al-Ghanim also underscored that "Kuwait's contributions to donors' conferences for Syria amounted to USD 1.6 billion," as he called for the need of diligence to put an end to the misery of the Syrian people.
KUWAIT -- For his part, Rashid Khalikov, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Partnerships with Middle East, Central Asia, addressed the conference saying in part that recent escalatory military action in Aleppo inflicted further destruction in houses, civil installations and turned thousands of civilians homeless.
Humanitarian assistance that has been allotted so far is not enough because Syria, daily, witnesses destructive attacks and relocation of some 5,000 civilians, Khalikov said, affirming that the UN is seeking greater aid for the civilians in the war-torn country.
Continuation of the crisis increases challenges in face of volunteers and the UN partners that have been seeking to secure help for some 13 million people in need.
This meeting, Khalikov, stated, is an opportuning to inform the stakeholders about the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Syria, Khalikov added. It is aimed at rallying support to find solutions to the humanitarian crisis, urging states that had pledged to grant donations for the Syrian refugees to honor their obligations during the previous conferences.
For his part, Rashid Derbas, Lebanese Minister of Social Affairs, praised in his statement the great, effective and humanitarian role undertaken by the State of Kuwait, namely the Government and His Highness the Amir, toward the Syrian crisis.
Lebanon a small country of a four million population is hosting nearly two million Syrian refugees who share the locals the necessities in shadow of deteriorating conditions, Minister Derbas said. He warned that the hosting countries, in case the Syrian crisis lasted for a long time, would ultimately suffer equal hardships.
The Lebanese official proposed building "secured zones" on Syrian territories to lure the refugees return to their homeland. "This measure is less costly and much more useful," he added.
The coordination convention, now in its 8th session, comprises representatives of refugees' hosting nations, namely Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, representatives of the World Bank and other international humanitarian agencies. (end) amn.rk