Secretary of State John Kerry announced Thursday that the United States is providing an additional $601 million in humanitarian assistance to those affected by the Syrian civil war, the State Department said. According to a statement from the State Department, the new funding brings the total to more than $5.1 billion the United States has provided since the beginning of the crisis. "Through this humanitarian funding, the United States continues to provide food, shelter, water, medical care, humanitarian protection, and other urgent relief to millions of people suffering inside Syria and 4.6 million refugees from Syria in the region," the statement said. "It also helps mitigate the impact of the crisis on governments and communities throughout the region that are straining to cope with the mass influx of refugees from Syria." Kerry also announced more than $290 million in U.S. development assistance for education to Jordan and Lebanon. That funding will "continue to support the Jordanian and Lebanese ministries of education in their goal of increasing access to high-quality education and supporting learning for all students, including Syrian refugees," the State Department said. "The United States recognizes that along with emergency relief, we must address the long-term development needs of Syria's neighbors, and the funding we are providing will continue to support communities in neighboring countries that have so generously hosted those refugees," the statement said.
