This week the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced $20 million in additional funding to the Syria Recovery Trust Fund (SRTF), a multi-donor fund that directly benefits the Syrian people by improving access to basic needs, such as electricity, water, and medical care.

The planned contribution, announced at a meeting in Washington of the SRTF steering board, brings total U.S. contributions to the SRTF to $60 million. Since the SRTF's inception in 2013, donor contributions to the trust fund have totaled $175 million. Members include 12 international donor countries and two host countries, Turkey and Jordan. As needs in Syria grow, the SRTF is seeking additional contributions from international donors.

The SRTF provides equipment and engineers to rehabilitate and expand electrical grids and water networks; refurbishes medical facilities; provides needed medical equipment and supplies; and procures wheat and provides the mills and lab equipment to process wheat for bakeries. SRTF projects have benefitted more than two million Syrians.