[ti:Iraq, Syria Face Aid Shortages] [ar:Bob Doughty] [al:In the News] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]The United Nations says Iraq and Syria [00:03.55]need more aid to deal with the huge humanitarian crisis in the area. [00:09.33]Millions of people in Syria and Iraq need humanitarian aid. [00:16.41]Many of these men, women and children [00:19.69]fled violence with only the clothes they were wearing. [00:23.92]The United Nations is calling the situation in Syria and Iraq [00:30.20]the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world today. [00:34.98]Baroness Emma Nicholson is with the AMAR International Charitable Foundation. [00:42.76]She says donors are not reacting to appeals for more donations. [00:50.22]"For a reason I cannot understand, [00:51.97]I cannot explain, the world has barely shifted in its response. [00:57.10]The big funders haven't come across, [00:58.99]yet there are 1.4 million new refugees, [01:02.42]IDPs (internally displaced persons) inside Iraq alone. [01:04.99]And you know what's going on in Syria. [01:06.99]And this is spreading. [01:09.18]Joel Charny is with InterAction, [01:12.63]an alliance of more than 180 non-governmental organizations. [01:18.85]"I think part of it is [01:20.25]that there are so many emergencies right now." [01:22.65]He adds that donors may be facing difficult decisions [01:27.48]about where to send their money. [01:30.27]"So some of it is competition [01:33.40]or sort of donors trying to figure out, [01:36.24]do we respond in Syria and Iraq? [01:38.93]Do we respond in South Sudan? [01:40.93]Do we respond in the Central African Republic? [01:43.85]We now have the Ebola crisis." [01:45.41]Some countries have donated large amounts. [01:49.09]Since 2012, the United States has provided [01:53.82]more than $1.5 billion to help Iraqis and Syrians. [02:00.39]Saudi Arabia recently gave the United Nations $500 million. [02:06.95]But Joel Charny says more than just money [02:11.33]is needed to ease the crisis. [02:14.47]"Yes, if we had more aid, [02:16.26]we could provide more services. [02:18.30]But let's face it. [02:20.39]Fundamentally, this is a crisis [02:21.98]that can only be solved diplomatically, [02:24.54]and the whole diplomatic process has ground to a halt." [02:29.72]As winter starts to arrive, [02:32.60]humanitarian groups are exploring ways [02:36.09]to raise interest in the general public [02:39.27]so people will donate more. [02:41.67]But the groups say they have not yet succeeded. [02:46.10]I'm Bob Doughty.