The situation in Syria is catastrophic and getting worse by the day And every day Syrians face a cascading catalogue of horrors: unrelenting violence, dwindling supplies of food and medicine, and human rights violations including sexual violence and arbitrary arrests and detention. They are suffering terribly, with little end in sight. I thank His Highness and the Government of Kuwait for hosting this important meeting.
I deeply appreciate his enormous generosity. This is a testament of His Highness, the Emir, and the people of Kuwait's strong commitment to humanity.
I hope you are all inspired by this stellar example of international solidarity. May I invite you again to applaud his very generous contribution. I express my sincere gratitude to the governments and people of the Gulf region -- Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates β and all the other governments and regional organizations represented here. I particularly thank the governments and people of Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq for hosting and supporting hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees.
The Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is courageously distributing aid to people in all areas of the country. Let me express my deepest gratitude to the relief agencies and charity groups that are rushing humanitarian aid to Syria. I salute the women and men who run these operations under very difficult conditions.
Many humanitarian workers have lost their lives in Syria β including eight employees of UN humanitarian agencies and eight employees of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. We pay tribute to them today. Seventeen UN staff members are now in detention. I call for their immediate release. At least 60, people have been killed during the last 22 months.
