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Minister Joe Costello on his recent trip to Jordan

Minister of State Joe Costello today announced an additional €1.5 million ($1.9) in life-saving assistance to help address the devastating humanitarian consequences of the conflict in Syria. This will bring Irish Aid’s total contribution to date to over €2 million.

The Minister made his announcement during a visit to the UN run Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan.

Speaking after his visit to the camp, the Minister said:

Syria and its neighbours are facing an enormous and growing humanitarian crisis as a result of the escalating violence within Syria.

There are over 2.5 million people in need within the country and over 170,000 refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Lack of funds is the main factor hampering the humanitarian response.

The funding I announced today will enable our UN partners and aid agencies to scale up their assistance to the millions of vulnerable Syrians whose lives are at risk due to the escalating conflict.

Ireland is committed to supporting them through these extremely difficult times.

Read the full press release here.