UN warns UK not to slash humanitarian aid to Syria

The United Nations has urged the UK not to go ahead with major expected cuts in aid to Syria next week, warning the move could further destabilise the war-torn country.

The UK is the only major donor threatening to make a large aid slash ahead of a high-profile donor conference on Syria, where organisers are looking to raise $10 billion, the largest ever appeal for Syria.

According to a leaked report of discussions held in the last three weeks among Foreign Office officials, the UK is planning to cut aid to Syria by 67 percent.

The UN’s chief humanitarian coordinator, Mark Lowcock, warned that “this is absolutely not the moment for donors to downgrade Syria in their priorities. Millions of Syrians are resorting to desperate measures to survive. To cut aid now would be massively destabilising. It would be a grave step in the wrong direction.”

The European Union will hold its fifth international donor conference virtually on March 29-30. A $10bn target was set to help Syrians with education, housing and employment in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. This includes at least $4.2bn for the response in Syria and $5.8bn to support refugees and host communities in the region.

At the fourth "Supporting the future of Syria and the region" conference held in Brussels last June, international donors pledged a total of $7.7 billion.

“A decision to turn away from Syria today will come back to bite us all tomorrow,” Lowcock said. “In 2014 our appeal was poorly funded. In 2015 there was a huge exodus of people from Syria to Europe.”

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The UK provided £300m last year and says it gave a total of £3.5bn between February 2012 and December 2020. Despite the appeals, UN officials are expecting a “significant cut” in UK aid.

Nine out of 10 people in Syria live below the poverty line, UN figures show. Food prices have soared by more than 200 percent. “The majority of people can’t afford to eat,” Lowcock said. “Millions of Syrians are resorting to desperate measures to survive.”

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