(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Hollywood star Angelia Jolie said on Sunday that the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) lacks the funding required to meet the basic needs of Syrian refugees.
During a visit to Zaatari camp in Jordan, Jolie said the UNHCR's "response for the Syria crisis" is only 7% funded this year. In 2017, it was only 50% funded.
"The UNHCR does not have the funds to provide in full even the most basic necessities for survival for many families," Jolie said.
"After seven years of war, most Syrian refugees have exhausted any savings they had. The vast majority of them already live below the poverty line, on less than three dollars a day," she added.
Jolie also called on the UN Security Council and the international community to find a solution for the crisis, while urging that peace "cannot be built on impunity for the targeting of civilians by all sides, the bombing of schools and hospitals, barrel bombs, torture,
chemical weapons and rape used as a weapon of war."
Surrounded by dozens of children and teenagers living at the camp, Jolie told them: "I am very proud of all of you, you are very strong."
The Zaatari refugee camp opened in 2012, one year after the anti-government protests turned violent in Syria. It is the largest refugee camp in Jordan housing almost 80,000 Syrian refugees.
Many of the residents have been living there for several years.

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