UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- A senior UN humanitarian official has concluded the first leg of her four-day Middle East mission to Egypt and Syria, a UN spokesperson said here Tuesday.

    Catherine Bragg, UN assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and deputy emergency relief coordinator, met with representatives of the League of Arab States on Monday, said Martin Nesirky.

    Bragg encouraged the Arab League to take an active role in promoting international humanitarian coordination and funding for the various humanitarian appeals and response plans in the region, Nesirky said.

    The Cairo regional Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) covers a region with multiple ongoing humanitarian emergencies, with some 10 million refugees and more than 3 million internally displaced persons.

    Bragg will continue her mission in Damascus, Syria, on Wednesday and Thursday.