Six years of conflict in Syria: statement from Priti Patel
UK International Development Secretary comments as the Syrian crisis enters seventh year.
Commenting on the sixth anniversary of the start of the uprising in Syria, International Development Secretary Priti Patel said:
Over the last six years, the UK has led the international response to the crisis in Syria, which has seen hundreds of thousands of lives lost, millions more thrown into chaos and a country systematically laid to waste.
In a conflict where six years of barbarity have seen the targeting of civilians used as a weapon of war, we have ensured food, shelter and medicine is there for those caught up in the violence.
The London Conference on Syria last year saw the largest amount ever raised for a humanitarian crisis in a single day. Next month, the UK will co-host the follow-up conference in Brussels, where we will push the international community to once again dig deep to deliver the long-term funding needed to relieve Syria’s downward spiral.
Donors and host countries must keep up the pace to create more jobs and opportunities for the millions of people who continue to be affected by this crisis right across the region.
Notes to editors
- The UK is at the forefront of the response to the Syria crisis, with life-saving humanitarian support reaching millions of people inside Syria and in neighbouring countries.
- The UK has pledged more than £2.3 billion to support those affected by the conflict, our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis. In 2016 the UK was the third largest bilateral contributor to the humanitarian response in Syria, and the second largest overall since the start of the response in 2012.
- For more information on the UK’s humanitarian response, please see: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/factsheet-the-uks-humanitarian-aid-response-to-the-syria-crisis
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