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HELSINKI, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations (UN) and its NGO partners showed their commitment here on Tuesday to strengthen support for Syria and the neighboring countries affected by the ongoing crisis.
A conference named "Supporting Syrians and the region" was held in Helsinki aiming to launch the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP) for 2017 and 2018, and provide humanitarian support for the region.
At the conference, UN agencies and NGOs called for 4.63 billion U.S. dollars in new funding to help at least 4.8 million people who'd escaped the war by going abroad.
The new funding for 3RP is in addition to the estimated 3.4 billion dollars to meet the needs of 13.5 million people in Syria in 2017.
The funding totals about 8 billion dollars.
Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila, who opened the conference, said Syria's humanitarian crisis was the worst since the conflict broke six years ago. The population movements caused by the crisis have not been seen since World War II.
Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said that Syrian refugees and host communities needed international support more than ever.
"UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency) and partners are ready to address the needs and vulnerabilities of Syrian refugees and the communities hosting them, but require the necessary and flexible funding to do so," Grandi was quoted as saying.
Helen Clark, administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, stated that UN agencies and NGO partners were committed to helping governments and host communities build resilience in the face of the crisis.
"We've made important strides, but we need more support," she said.
It is necessary to step up the collective efforts of the international community to meet the needs of the people who've suffered from the crisis in Syria, said Stephen O'Brien, head of the Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs and emergency relief coordinator.
In addition to the UN and aid agencies, government members from Syria's neighboring countries, which most of the refugees have fled to, also attended the conference held in Helsinki.
According to the UN, at least 250,000 people have been killed since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in March 2011. During the prolonged war, more than 4.8 million Syrians have been forced to flee their homeland to neighboring countries such as Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon.
