USAID urges world to address humanitarian crisis in Syria

"The world must address the humanitarian crisis in Syria and meet the basic needs of people affected by 20 months of deadly conflict, the head of the U.S. Agency for International Development said on Tuesday," Agence France-Presse reports (Ozerkan, 11/27). USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah "said that at least a million Syrians, forced from their homes by the national uprising and government bombing, would not have food and other vital basic support, and the number could be double that or more," the Kansas City Star writes. "'Nearly 2.5 million people displaced from their homes require immediate support,' Shah said," the newspaper writes (Gutman, 11/28).

"'The United States has provided $200 million in humanitarian support that we believe is reaching 1.5 million Syrians inside of Syria and in displaced communities,' Shah ... told AFP during a visit to a Syrian refugee camp on Turkey's border," AFP writes. "Of that, $125 million has been directed to Syria itself to provide medical support as well as food, shelter and other basic supplies, while the rest is being used to support refugees in Turkey as well as Jordan, Lebanon, and other countries," according to the news service (11/27).