The Middle East will receive more than $77 million from UN emergency fund

The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos has allocated $100 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to boost life-saving relief work in Syria and 11 other countries where humanitarian needs are high but financial support is low.

$77.5 million of the first of two rounds of CERF funding in 2015 to support underfunded emergencies will go to countries affected by the Syria crisis. The highest single allocation will go to Syria ($30 million), and the remainder will go to humanitarian agencies in Egypt ($3.5 million), Iraq ($8 million), Jordan ($9 million), Lebanon ($18 million) and Turkey ($9 million).

"Despite critical funding gaps, humanitarian workers remain committed to helping every vulnerable Syrian they can. This allocation from CERF will help ensure that they can continue their life-saving work," Valerie Amos said.

Another $14 million will support aid operations in three countries in the Great Lakes Region in Africa.