海角大神

By the numbers: UN's Syrian refugee appeal

The UN asked today for $6.5 billion for Syria, its largest appeal ever for a single crisis. A breakdown of what's been requested, and where it would go.

The UN today, requesting $6.5 billion in funds to aid millions of people uprooted by the Syrian conflict.

The figure is 鈥渢he for a single crisis鈥� made by the UN, said Valerie Amos, who heads the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), according to a statement issued by the UN.

With no resolution in sight for the fighting, the multilateral organization predicts that the refugee flow will continue in the upcoming year. , the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, warned that the humanitarian situation is dangerously close to slipping out of control, according to the UN statement:

鈥淲e鈥檙e facing a terrifying situation here where, by the end of 2014, substantially more of the population of Syria could be displaced or in need of humanitarian help than not.鈥� This goes beyond anything we have seen in many, many years, and makes the need for a political solution all the much greater.鈥�

The appeal was presented by the two UN agencies spearheading the Syrian aid effort, OCHA and the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

In the three years since the Syrian conflict erupted in March 2011, refugees have streamed into neighboring Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey. Their numbers are swelling relentlessly, creating refugee camps the size of cities, where hundreds of thousands struggle to eke out a living amid growing desperation. (Just one example of how dire the situation has become is the rising number of young Syrian women refugees being听pushed into early marriage听to gain even a semblance of certainty and protection.) 听

Observers were quick to point out that the UN鈥檚 record request is unlikely to be funded in full, with dim implications for hundreds of thousands of people in need of help. BBC correspondent Imogen Foulkes :

Despite the huge needs, the UN is unlikely to get all the money it wants. It is almost unheard of for a UN appeal to be 100% funded: this year's request for Syria is only 60% funded, the request for the Central African Republic stands at less than 50%.

The reasons for shortfalls are complex: some traditional donors (Europe, the United States) are struggling with financial deficits. And with some crises, Syria is one of them, donors are worried their money may end up in the wrong hands.

Here is a look at the UN鈥檚 appeal by the numbers:

2.3 million: The number of refugees who fled across Syria鈥檚 borders to neighboring countries since March 2011, .

4.1 million: The anticipated number of refugees in one year鈥檚 time, .听

$4.2 billion: The amount the UN in the region in 2014, based on today鈥檚 appeal. The funds, if raised, will assist both the refugees and the communities hosting them in the neighboring countries.听

20 percent:听The portion of Lebanon鈥檚 population that is now comprised of Syrian refugees. Lebanon has borne the heaviest brunt of the refugee crisis. that close to 843,000 Syrians have fled to the country, whose population stood at 4.1 million in 2011.

120,000: The estimated number of Syrians who seek shelter in neighboring countries every month, according to UNHCR Spokesman Peter Kessler who .

6.5 million: The number of people internally displaced by the conflict who remain in Syria, according to the . Reaching many of them remains a nearly impossible task for security reasons.

$2.3 billion:听The amount the UN today听听internally displaced in Syria.听

$12.9 billion: The for humanitarian causes for 2014. Syria represents 50 percent of this amount. The rest is slated to be divided among a handful of other countries that include the typhoon-hit Philippines, Sudan, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Somalia, the Congo, and Haiti.