UN raises $6.4bn for Syrians as humanitarian needs soar

Some 24 million people need basic aid in Syria and the surrounding region, a rise of four million over the past year.

International donors have pledged $6.4bn in humanitarian aid to help Syrians fleeing a decade of civil war, but short of a $10bn goal as governments struggle with weakened economies because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the fifth annual conference held to keep Syrians from starvation, the event hosted by the European Union sought $4.2bn for people displaced inside Syria and $5.8bn for refugees and their hosts elsewhere in the Middle East. The United Nations raised more than $7bn in 2020 and 2019, although UN officials will still press for more pledges throughout the year and have time, as the money is split between 2021 and 2022.