UN seeks $8.4bn at major Syrian donor conference

The UN will seek to raise a record $8.4bn at the Syria donor conference that starts on Tuesday in Kuwait.

According to the Kuwaiti authorities 78 states have confirmed their participation, with the UN warning that the situation has reached breaking point.

"Failing to meet the required funds risks resulting in a horrifying and dangerous humanitarian catastrophe," Abdullah al-Maatuq, UN special envoy for humanitarian affairs, told a meeting of NGOs.

Ahead of the meeting, a string of non-governmental organisations – including Turkey's IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, which made the largest pledge of $100m - pledged more than $480m for refugees but much more remains to be done.

UN humanitarian affairs chief Valerie Amos said the donor response at Tuesday's conference "needs to be comprehensive".

She said that the humanitarian situation had deteriorated in Syria with no reduction in violence and children particularly affected.

The aid is urgently required to provide life-saving assistance to half of Syria's population as several UN aid agencies have said they remain underfunded and warned they could halt or downsize their operations.

The third international humanitarian pledging conference to be held on Tuesday will be chaired by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and will be opened by Kuwait's emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

At the first and second conferences, also hosted by Kuwait, pledges of $1.5bn and $2.4bn were made, but the United Nations has complained that not all pledges were honoured.

In a report on the worsening humanitarian crisis in Syria released last week, Ban said devastation from the fighting had left around 7.6 million people internally displaced.

Another 3.9 million people have sought refuge in neighbouring countries.

"Every day brings more death, displacement and destruction," the UN report said.