UAE's humanitarian aid for Syrians reaches Dh130.2 million

The UAE has provided Dh130.2 million in humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people, both within Syria and in other countries, since the start of the current crisis, according a recent report by the UAE Ministry of International Cooperation and Development (MICAD).

The UAE's assistance to Syrians has been channeled via the Red Crescent Authority (RCA), Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation, Dar Al Ber Society and Sharjah Charity Association.

In 2012, the UAE provided humanitarian aid to a value of Dh56,675,934 million for Syrian refugees, the report says.

The report noted that on the 9th July 2013, H.H. Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak, Chairperson of the General Women's Union (GWU), Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation (FDF) and President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, donated Dh36.7 million to provide food, medication, shelter and education to Syrian refugees under the ‘Big Heart for Syrian Refugee Children’ campaign.

Also according to the report, 1.8 million Syrian refugees are displaced in five Arab countries, while a further 6.8 million inside the country have been affected by the crisis.

MICAD's report, an update of the crisis information and indicators, shows that the crisis in Syria has been aggravated as 4.2 million people, 2.1 million of whom are children, are now homeless inside Syria.

The total number of Syrians affected by the crisis is now in excess of 8.6 million according to MICAD's report, which describes the situation in Syria as the worst humanitarian crisis in the present time.

The report cites warnings by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) that 4 million Syrians now suffer from "food insecurity".

MICAD’s report also highlights the World Health Organisations warnings of the heightened risks of communicable disease outbreaks at refugee camps. These include water-borne diseases such as diarrhea, typhoid, cholera and hepatitis and vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles, which reappeared among displaced people due to a drop in national vaccination coverage.

It also noted a constant increase in the number of acute diarrhea cases, especially in rural Damascus, Idlib, Homs, Aleppo and Deir Ez-Zor.

Some medical supplies allocated to Aleppo, Idlib and rural Damascus have not been delivered yet  because of a lack of security, MICAD's report says.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.