The Government is working hard to alleviate the suffering in Syria and is at the forefront of the humanitarian response to this crisis, committing £2.46 billion since 2012 - our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis. This is helping to meet the immediate needs of vulnerable people in Syria and refugees in the region.
UK aid is making a real difference, providing life-saving and life-changing humanitarian support to the people of Syria, and those who have fled to neighbouring countries. Since 2012, across Syria and the region, UK aid has delivered over 26 million food rations that feed a person for a month, 10.3 million medical consultations, 9.8 million relief packages, and over 8 million vaccines. In 2016/17 alone, UK aid reached over 5 million people with clean water.
DFID's work on the Syrian crisis gives people in the region hope for a better future. Without British aid, hundreds of thousands of Syrians may feel they had no alternative but to risk their lives seeking to get to Europe.
While an extensive humanitarian response can help alleviate the suffering in the region, the only way to establish lasting peace in Syria is through a credible political transition away from the Assad regime. Ministers will continue to put pressure on the Assad regime to both allow humanitarian aid into cut-off regions and to also bring an end to the conflict in the country. In the challenges 2018 brings, Britain will continue to be at the forefront of the global humanitarian response.