Obama Announces Additional Aid for the Syrian People

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ0Sn02fcls[/youtube]

President Barack Obama announced Tuesday morning that his administration will provide an additional $155 million in aid to the Syrian people. The money will be used within Syria to provide food, medicine, and winter supplies, and throughout the region to help numerous refugees effected by the conflict.  In his statement the President said, “Humanitarian assistance sometimes means the difference between life and death, and that is why courageous men and women have been working day and night to ensure that these supplies are reaching those who need it most. The additional aid means the U.S. has now committed $365 million in humanitarian assistance since the conflict began almost two years ago.

This announcement comes one day ahead of the U.N.-sponsored global donors conference in Kuwait.  The conference, which will be attended by representatives from about 60 countries,  hopes to raise $1.5 billion in humanitarian assistance for the Syrian people.  In a recent statement, U.N. Undersecretary for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos said, “We hope that the conference will yield the resources we need. If we do not receive these funds, we will not be able to reach the poorest and most vulnerable families who so desperately need our help.” The U.N. currently estimates that “four million people need help, two million are internally displaced, and  400,000 out of 500,000 Palestinians refugees have been affected.”