U.N. donor conference for Syria raises $7.7 billion for Syria despite international coronavirus hardship

BRUSSELS – Several countries and non-governmental organizations held a virtual donor conference to raise money to assist the Syrian people. The participants of the meeting, which raised over $7 billion, stressed the need to find a political solution before reconstruction could begin. U.S. Special Representative for Syria James Jeffrey, who was in attendance, called for the reopening of border crossings into Syria, including the crossing in the northeast with Iraq.

During the virtual conference held on Tuesday, over 60 countries and non-governmental organizations raised humanitarian financial aid for Syria totaling approximately $7.7 billion to ease the burden of the Syrian crisis faced by millions of people.

This amount of money is considered large, in comparison with the economic collapse of most countries due to the coronavirus pandemic. The conditions are completely unprecedented, and it is a difficult moment for every country to provide resources that are necessary to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people, said U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Sir Mark Lowcock.

However, most of the participants, including the countries of the European Union, agreed on the need to find a political solution in Syria before starting reconstruction.

U.S. Special Envoy to Syria James Jeffrey stressed the necessity of renewing UNSC Resolution No. 2504 regarding reopening the border crossings in North and East Syria, otherwise a potential humanitarian catastrophe may take place.

Jeffrey stated in a press conference that the participating delegations in the Brussels Conference for Humanitarian Aid to Syria, also called for the renewal of Resolution No. 2504.