Turkey says has spent $600 mln on Syria refugees

Turkey has spent more than $600 million sheltering refugees from the almost two-year-old conflict in neighbouring Syria, Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said on Friday. (..) The United Nations said on Friday that refugee numbers have spiked, with around 5,000 people fleeing each day, 2,000 more a day than last year's figures. (..) Some diplomats have suggested foreign funding might be more forthcoming if international organisations such as the United Nations were given greater control.

A change of tide in Mali

After weeks of airstrikes, the World Food Program and some of its partners have resumed operations in Mali’s north. Seven boats carrying 600 tons of food aid left the river port of Mopti over the weekend toward Nianfunké, near Timbuktu. The boats carried a month’s worth of food to some 35,000 people, according to U.N. food agency’s spokesperson Elisabeth Byrs.

Sask. has role in feeding hungry

Feeding a hungry world and what role Saskatchewan has to play in that fight were discussed at a forum hosted by The Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership (STEP). (..) Ramiro Armando Lopes da Silva, assistant executive director of the WFP, said it is not a question food being available. It's a question of "connecting the food with those who need it." (..) Mary Ellen McGroaty, deputy director of procurement for the WFP, said Saskatchewan has a number of areas of expertise that will be vital in feeding the world's hungry. "I think there is incredible knowledge around the agro-processing sector from here," McGroaty said. "In addition to the traditional products that we buy - last year we bought over 10,000 tonnes of pulses from Canada - we are also interested in nutrition-ally improved products."

U.S. Urges Donors to Make Good on Syria Aid Pledges

U.S. officials Wednesday urged international donors to make good on pledges of more than $1.5 billion in aid for Syrians, warning that millions of people remained in dire need as the war rumbles on. There are now some 763,000 refugees who have fled Syria for neighboring countries, while another 2.5 million are estimated to have been displaced inside the country.