Additional funding is "urgently needed" to enable the United Nations and other humanitarian actors to reach millions of distressed Syrians before it is too late, a senior U.N. relief official urged Friday. "Winter has brought more hardship to Syrians already struggling to find safe shelter and ways to feed, clothe, and protect their families from illness and exposure to risk," U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria Yacoub El Hillo said in a statement. In preparation for the cold season, the United Nations and its partners had launched a $206 million winterization plan in October 2014, targeting some 3.3 million people inside Syria with blankets and warm clothing, fuel, winter kits, and cash assistance. Nevertheless, the winter plan remains underfunded by $70 million, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). "After four years of crisis, people's ability to cope is extremely stretched, and the needs continue to grow. Though the international community has been generous, funding has not kept pace in the face of growing needs," El Hillo said.
