Speaking at a major UN conference in Geneva called by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) last month, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged the international community to help Syria and Jordan, which border on Iraq, to help shoulder the burden of hosting over two million Iraqi refugees who have fled the violence in their country.
Under the new agreement concluded by the UNHCR and the government of Syria, the Syrian Ministry of Health will receive $2.06 million from the UN for the rehabilitation of hospitals in Damascus, the purchase of new medical equipment and salaries for medical staff.
The current agreement is the fourth between the UN refugee agency and Syria, which is currently home to some 1.4 million Iraqi refugees. The agency has already committed a total of $9.6 million since the beginning of 2007 in agreements with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, the Syrian Ministry of Education and the Governorate of the Syrian province of Al Hassake.
Iraq has been brought to the brink of civil war by a U.S. military campaign against the regime of Saddam Hussein and subsequent attempts to foster democracy in the country.
Egypt's resort of Sharm el-Sheikh is currently hosting a two-day international conference on Iraq, which began Thursday. Delegations from 60 countries, most of them represented at the foreign ministerial level, are participating. The UN secretary general, the Arab League head and the EU high representative for foreign policy are also taking part in the conference.
