KUWAIT CITY
An international donors' conference for Syria opened Wednesday in Kuwait City, with the stated objective of raising $6.5 billion to help over nine million internally displaced Syrians and four million refugees in other countries.
Addressing the opening session, Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah announced $500 million donation in humanitarian aid to Syrians.
Delegations from 69 countries are attending the Second Kuwait Pledging Conference.
The first conference, also hosted by Kuwait, helped to collect $1.5 billion for Syrian refugees. Kuwait donated around $300 million at the time.
On Tuesday, a group of NGOs pledged a total of $403 million to Syrian refugees during a sideline gathering organized by the International Islamic Charity Organization (IICO).
Syria has been in the throes of conflict since 2011 when a peaceful uprising against Assad escalated into a civil war following a violent government crackdown.
According to the UN, more than 100,000 people have been killed in the conflict so far.
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