UN asks for record $16billion in humanitarian aid to help 60million people in 22 countries

 

The UN has appealed for $16.4billion (£10.4billion) to provide aid to nearly 60 million people worldwide next year, with almost half the amount aimed at helping victims of Syria's drawn-out conflict.

'The rising scale of need is outpacing our capacity to respond,' warned United Nations humanitarian chief Valerie Amos, stressing that 2014 has been marked by a sharp rise in the number of people affected by violent conflicts. 

The global appeal from UN agencies and other humanitarian organisations aims to gather funds to help at least 57.5 million of the most vulnerable across 22 countries.

The UN says that $2.8billion is needed to help those caught in the Syrian civil war.The UN is calling for $2.8bn to help 12.2m people inside war-ravaged Syria next year.A full $7.2billion of the amount requested for 2015 will be aimed at helping an estimated 18.2 million people victimised by Syria's bloody civil war, which erupted in March 2011.Another $4.4 million will be needed to help more than three million Syrian refugees and some three million vulnerable people in overwhelmed host communities in neighbouring countries