UN relief chief to visit refugee communities in southern Turkey

The UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, Stephen O'Brien, will visit Hatay in southern Turkey on Wednesday and Thursday, a UN spokesman said here Tuesday.

He is expected to meet with refugees, senior Turkish officials and local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in cross-border aid, Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, said at a daily news briefing here.

"He will also visit a medical center and school for orphans," the spokesman said.

"Mr. O'Brien's visit will focus on how the United Nations and humanitarian agencies, in support of the Turkish government, can better provide assistance to those who need it most," Haq said.

Of the five million Syrians who have fled the country since the crisis began in 2011, more than 2.7 million are now in Turkey, making it the country hosting the largest number of Syrian refugees in the world today.

Across the border, in northern Syria, nearly four million people rely on cross-border aid delivery.

However, less than a quarter of the funding needed this year to help Syrians and the communities hosting them has been contributed.

O'Brien, who is also the UN emergency relief coordinator, is in Turkey to attend the first World Humanitarian Summit, which is scheduled to conclude on Tuesday in Istanbul. Endit