The United Nations has once again called on countries to increase aid to Syria as the embattled country slips further into one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters.
The organization's deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for Syria, Mark Cutts, said that there isn't enough money to address the crisis in the war-torn country. He said that nine out of 10 people in the country are living below the poverty line and close to three-quarters of the population is "food insecure."
"We don't have nearly enough money to provide all the services that are needed. It is still just a struggle for survival for all these people and it is often the women, the children and the elderly, and people with disabilities who are suffering most," Cutts said.
U.N. officials said that the humanitarian situation in Syria is getting worse and it is now getting tougher to raise funds from global donors.
Even before the pandemic, pledges were reportedly already dropping off due to donor fatigue.
Earlier this month, the U.N. was only able to raise less than 50% of its target. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the pledges as a huge disappointment and a failure of humanity.
Officials said that the pandemic has compounded the country's already devastated economy, which was on a steady decline since the war began in 2011. Syria's currency has crashed and prices of basic goods have skyrocketed since the conflict began.
The economies of major donor countries have also taken a hit from the effects of the global health crisis. Last year, total donations for humanitarian aid fell by more than 45%, nearly a 14% drop from the year before.
"We fully realize that in donor countries there is also a COVID effect, that budgets are strained. But clearly because of that same pandemic that has an effect on budgets; this is not the time to let go." the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, Fillipo Grandi, said.
