KUWAIT CITY: The UN, facing its “worst humanitarian crisis” in decades, is seeking a whopping $6.5 billion to aid Syrians affected by war at a donor’s conference in Kuwait City Wednesday.

The UN has described the appeal as the largest ever in its history for a single humanitarian emergency.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will chair the one-day ministerial-level Second International Pledging Conference for Syria, which will be opened by Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

UN secretary-general and Regional Humanitarian Coordinator Nigel Fisher has told Kuwait’s official KUNA news agency that the funds will be used to aid some 13.4 million Syrians whom the UN estimates will be affected by the Syrian civil war by the end of 2014.

The figure is higher than the original 10 million people announced by the UN seven months ago. The UN will need $2.3 billion to support 9.3 million people inside Syria and $4.2 billion for Syrian refugees, expected to nearly double to 4.1 million by year’s end, the UN official said.

The World Food Programme said it was stepping up food aid and would also provide supplements to around 240,000 toddlers aged 6-23 months, to ensure they do not suffer from malnutrition.