The promise of humanitarian aid was made in response to an appeal by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to raise some $6.5bn for 2014 in order to provide medical care, food water and shelter for both refugees having fled Syria and civilians within Syria.

The Secretary General noted that when the donors met a year ago 4mn Syrians needed aid, and that a year later the world is facing a regional and a humanitarian crisis of even greater scale, with more than 9mn people affected by the conflict. Representatives from 69 countries attended the Kuwait conference, to discuss a target for aid more than four times last year’s $1.5bn. (CONTINUED - 657 WORDS)