DEMASCUS - The United Nations has warned about the potential of a “horrifying” humanitarian situation in Syria unless an amount of USD 8.4 billion is procured to address the country’s crisis.

The world body has launched an appeal to raise the financial aid for Syria this year with Abdullah al-Maatuq, UN special envoy for humanitarian affairs, telling a meeting of NGOs in Kuwait City on Monday that “failing to meet the required funds risks resulting in a horrifying and dangerous humanitarian catastrophe”

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is to chair the Third International Humanitarian Pledging Conference for Syria in the city on Tuesday.

At the first and second conferences, also hosted by Kuwait, pledges of USD 1.5 billion and USD 2.4 billion were made. However, the United Nations has complained that not all pledges were honored.

UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos said the donor response at Tuesday’s conference “needs to be comprehensive.”

With the conflict now in its fifth year, almost half of all Syrians have been forced to flee their homes, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

Last year was the deadliest yet in the conflict that has plagued Syria since March 2011, with at least 76,000 people killed out of a total of more than 215,000 since the turmoil began.

In a report released last week, Ban said devastation from the fighting had left around 7.6 million people internally displaced. Another 3.9 million have sought refuge in neighboring countries.

“Every day brings more death, displacement and destruction,” the UN report said. (Press TV)