Increased Humanitarian Support for Syria and Iraq

Today I will announce at the Syria Donors Conference that Australia will provide an additional $25 million for life-saving humanitarian assistance in Syria, Iraq and countries in the region hosting large numbers of refugees.

This new funding includes $20 million for partners within Syria, and to partners operating in the region including the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Food Programme (WFP) and Australian NGOs. Australia's assistance will help Syrian refugees and their host communities in the region access vital resources such as food, shelter and protection.

The Australian Government will also provide an additional $5 million for Iraq, including $2 million to the United Nations Development Programme to help stabilise areas of the country liberated from Daesh, and the balance to NGO partners.

This increased contribution will support civilians affected by the world's worst humanitarian crisis. In Syria, 13.5 million people require urgent humanitarian assistance. A further 4.6 million Syrians are refugees in neighbouring countries. An estimated 10 million people in Iraq also require urgent humanitarian support this year.

In addition to this increased humanitarian funding, the Australian Government will also deploy 10 Australian Civilian Corps specialists to Lebanon and Jordan to assist UN and NGO partners deliver education, water, sanitation, camp infrastructure, logistics and protection to Syrian refugees.

This announcement brings Australia's humanitarian response to the Syria crisis to more than $213 million since 2011, and for Iraq to $45 million since 2014, totalling $258 million.