The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, expressed gratitude to the United Arab Emirates for allocating USD 5 million to support UNHCR in Jordan.

The Minister of International Cooperation and Development, Her Excellency, Sheikha Lubna Bint Khalid Al Qasimi, announced the donation in a press conference held on Tuesday at the Ministry in the presence of representatives from various UN agencies from the UAE and the region. The contribution was made as part of an inter-agency USD 60 million donation by the UAE to a number of UN partners working to address the needs of Syrians inside and outside the country.

In light of the long-standing partnership between UNHCR and the UAE and the vital role that the UAE is playing in support of the Syria humanitarian response, the UN High Commissioner praised the important gesture.

“I am deeply grateful to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for this timely and generous humanitarian donation which will support UNHCR in alleviating the suffering of Syrian refugees in Jordan,” said Guterres. “This is an important demonstration of international solidarity and will also serve to further strengthen our strategic relationship with the UAE and its national institutions,” he added.

Reiterating the UAE’s commitment to supporting the humanitarian response, His Highness, Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs said that “the problem of Syrian refugees has become an international issue and required concerted efforts to alleviate the suffering of people from the conflict that claimed the lives of thousands of people and displaced of million others.”

This donation coincides with the third anniversary of the Syria humanitarian crisis. Currently, there are more than 2.5 million Syrians registered as refugees, with some 590,000 in Jordan.

It is expected that the number of Syrians registered with UNHCR could exceed 4 million by the end of this year if current trends persist.