WASHINGTON, D.C. - USAID Assistant Administrator Paige Alexander and Acting Assistant Administrator Thomas H. Staal will travel to the 2016 Supporting Syria and the Region Conference that will be held in London on February 4. Assistant Administrator Alexander and Acting Assistant Administrator Staal will join the U.S. delegation to the conference led by Secretary of State John Kerry.

Co-hosted by the United Kingdom, Germany, Kuwait, Norway, and the United Nations, the conference will raise significant new funding to meet the immediate and longer-term needs of those affected by the Syrian crisis. More than 25 heads of states are expected to attend, including Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and the Emir of Kuwait Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

The conference will seek ambitious pledges to meet the 2016 UN appeal for the Syria crisis, estimated at $7.73 billion, as well as an additional $1.2 billion for affected regional governments. Global donors will announce contributions in life-saving assistance, as well as new donations to expand educational and economic opportunities for Syrian refugees and the communities that host them.

The United States is the single largest donor to the response to the Syrian crisis, the most complex humanitarian emergency of our time. The U.S. has provided more than $4.5 billion in life-saving assistance to date, in addition to development funding for Syria's neighbors.