Syrian refugees need 1.5 bln USD in aid: UN official

BEIRUT, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The total funding required to help Syrian refugees is 1.519 billion U.S. dollars, visiting UN assistant secretary general for humanitarian affairs, Valerie Amos, said Monday.

At a joint press conference with Lebanese Social Affairs Minister Wael Abou Faour, Amos said the money UN organizations need to held the refugees is about 519 million dollars, in addition to 1 billion needed by Syria's neighboring countries.

Amos confirmed that she will go to Kuwait for a donor countries ' conference to be held Thursday, adding that "the aim of the conference is to provide the neighboring countries and the UN organizations with the needed funding to provide the Syrian refugees with basic alimentary and health care."

Amos stressed that the United Nations is working on providing " 370 million dollars needed by the Lebanese government and the UN organizations working in Lebanon to help more than 200,000 Syrian refugees."

Meanwhile, she expressed hope that "the donor countries will be generous in helping the UN addressing this humanitarian issue."

For his part, Abou Faour briefed Amos on the fact that the number of displaced Syrians in Lebanon has surpassed 200,000, saying that "the burden has increased and Lebanon is in need of an updated plan to contain this growing number."

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