KUWAIT — Secretary of State John
Kerry pledged $380 million in new
assistance on Wednesday to help
civilians who are suffering because of
the civil war in Syria.
The pledge came as Ban Ki-moon, the
United Nations secretary general,
who is chairman of the donors’
conference here, said that $6.5
billion was needed to provide
medical care, food, water and shelter
for Syrian refugees and civilians
inside the country through 2014.
That is the largest appeal for
assistance in the history of the United
Nations. It comes as the number of
Syrian refugees has grown and
conditions inside the country have
dramatically deteriorated.
The session was held in a lavish
conference center, which was only
recently completed. But as the offers
of aid rolled in, several factors
continued to raise concerns.
First, Mr. Kerry warned that the new
aid would not be sufficient unless
President Bashar al-Assad stopped
“using starvation as a weapon of
war” and his forces allowed
international aid to reach besieged
areas, including the Damascus suburb
of East Ghouta.
On Monday, Mr. Kerry and his
Russian counterpart, Sergey V.
Lavrov, said that pressing the Syrian
government and the opposition to
allow access to besieged areas would
be a major objective of a peace
conference on Syria that is to begin
on Jan. 22 in Switzerland.
“If the regime can allow access to
United Nations and international
weapon inspectors, surely it can do
the same for neutral international
humanitarian assistance,” Mr. Kerry
said.
Mr. Kerry said that Mr. Assad’s
foreign minister would be visiting
Moscow soon to consult with the
Kremlin on the peace conference. He
added that he planned to discuss the
issue of humanitarian access again by
phone with Mr. Lavrov as he flew
back Wednesday to Washington.
But Mr. Kerry did not identify any
punitive measures — economic,
diplomatic or military — that might
be taken if the Assad government
refused to heed appeals to provide
humanitarian access or did so
intermittently. Mr. Kerry later told
reporters that the State Department
was examining “a whole set of
different options” but that they were
“not ready for prime time.”
Another concern is that in the past,
not all donor nations have followed
through on their pledges. Only about
70 percent of the funding sought by
the United Nations for Syria in 2013
was actually provided. Amnesty
International said earlier this month
that the United Arab Emirates, one of
the richest Arab countries, “made
promises on aid that failed to fully
materialize.” Russia, it added, “has
only made minimal contributions to
the humanitarian effort.”
The $380 million Mr. Kerry pledged
means that the United States has
committed more than $1.7 billion in
humanitarian aid since the crisis
began, the most of any donor.
Kuwait’s emir, Sheikh Sabah al-
Ahmed al-Sabah, made the largest
pledge at the Wednesday conference:
$500 million. Saudi Arabia and Qatar
each pledged $60 million.
A final worry is that the situation in
Syria is deteriorating so rapidly that
the humanitarian needs seem to
outpace the resources promised.
Some 6.5 million Syrians have been
displaced within their own country
and more than 2.3 million have fled
Syria as refugees.
“Even under the best circumstances,
the fighting has set back Syria years,
even decades,” Mr. Ban said.
Kerry pledged $380 million in new
assistance on Wednesday to help
civilians who are suffering because of
the civil war in Syria.
The pledge came as Ban Ki-moon, the
United Nations secretary general,
who is chairman of the donors’
conference here, said that $6.5
billion was needed to provide
medical care, food, water and shelter
for Syrian refugees and civilians
inside the country through 2014.
That is the largest appeal for
assistance in the history of the United
Nations. It comes as the number of
Syrian refugees has grown and
conditions inside the country have
dramatically deteriorated.
The session was held in a lavish
conference center, which was only
recently completed. But as the offers
of aid rolled in, several factors
continued to raise concerns.
First, Mr. Kerry warned that the new
aid would not be sufficient unless
President Bashar al-Assad stopped
“using starvation as a weapon of
war” and his forces allowed
international aid to reach besieged
areas, including the Damascus suburb
of East Ghouta.
On Monday, Mr. Kerry and his
Russian counterpart, Sergey V.
Lavrov, said that pressing the Syrian
government and the opposition to
allow access to besieged areas would
be a major objective of a peace
conference on Syria that is to begin
on Jan. 22 in Switzerland.
“If the regime can allow access to
United Nations and international
weapon inspectors, surely it can do
the same for neutral international
humanitarian assistance,” Mr. Kerry
said.
Mr. Kerry said that Mr. Assad’s
foreign minister would be visiting
Moscow soon to consult with the
Kremlin on the peace conference. He
added that he planned to discuss the
issue of humanitarian access again by
phone with Mr. Lavrov as he flew
back Wednesday to Washington.
But Mr. Kerry did not identify any
punitive measures — economic,
diplomatic or military — that might
be taken if the Assad government
refused to heed appeals to provide
humanitarian access or did so
intermittently. Mr. Kerry later told
reporters that the State Department
was examining “a whole set of
different options” but that they were
“not ready for prime time.”
Another concern is that in the past,
not all donor nations have followed
through on their pledges. Only about
70 percent of the funding sought by
the United Nations for Syria in 2013
was actually provided. Amnesty
International said earlier this month
that the United Arab Emirates, one of
the richest Arab countries, “made
promises on aid that failed to fully
materialize.” Russia, it added, “has
only made minimal contributions to
the humanitarian effort.”
The $380 million Mr. Kerry pledged
means that the United States has
committed more than $1.7 billion in
humanitarian aid since the crisis
began, the most of any donor.
Kuwait’s emir, Sheikh Sabah al-
Ahmed al-Sabah, made the largest
pledge at the Wednesday conference:
$500 million. Saudi Arabia and Qatar
each pledged $60 million.
A final worry is that the situation in
Syria is deteriorating so rapidly that
the humanitarian needs seem to
outpace the resources promised.
Some 6.5 million Syrians have been
displaced within their own country
and more than 2.3 million have fled
Syria as refugees.
“Even under the best circumstances,
the fighting has set back Syria years,
even decades,” Mr. Ban said.
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