Syria: UN launches largest ever appeal for humanitarian aid
A woman put clothes to dry on a line at the Domiz refugee camp, 20 km southeast of the northern Iraqi city of Dohuk, which houses Syrian-Kurd refugees, on May 29, 2013.
The United Nations has launched its largest appeal for humanitarian aid in the organization's history.
The UN on Friday put out a call for $4.4 billion in humanitarian aid for Syria, which faces the fastest growing refugee crisis in the world.
Some believe that figure may still fall short in easing the escalating crisis during a war that has killed more than 80,000 people, according to UN estimates.
The Guardian reported that last April, 1 million Syrians needed humanitarian assistance.
That number has jumped to 6.8 million in 2013, with 4.25 million Syrians internally displaced and another 1.6 million refugees living in Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Turkey and Lebanon.
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That number is expected to rise to 10 million by the end of the year, said the Guardian.
The $4.4 billion appeal is based on forecasts that estimate the refugee population doubling to 3.45 million, Reuters noted.
The forecasts do not take into account the increasing rate of internally displaced people.
"By the end of the year, half of the population of Syria will be in need of aid," UN spokesman Adrian Edwards said, according to Agence France-Presse.
The World Food Program (WFP) also said that it will soon run into a funding shortfall of $725 million, as the number of people within Syria who need food aid will rise dramatically.
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