Syria conflict causing 'staggering' humanitarian crisis

The Middle East faces a "staggering" humanitarian crisis caused by the conflict in Syria, an aid agency says.

With more then 600,000 Syrians having fled the country, the International Rescue Committee is calling on the outside world to step up its response.

The IRC describes the level of rape and sexual violence occurring in the conflict as "horrific".

The UN estimates that more than 60,000 people have been killed in the uprising, which began in March 2011.

In addition to those who have left the country, at least 2m people are thought be internally displaced within Syria.

Among one group of Syrian refugees in northern Lebanon's Bekaa valley, not a single child was dressed for winter, the BBC's Lyse Doucet reports.

All were shivering, and coughing in the cold, with some even going without shoes, our correspondent says.

Last week, a UN agency warned that 1m Syrians are going hungry.

The World Food Program (WFP) said it is helping 1.5 million Syrians, but continued fighting and an inability to use the port of Tartus to deliver food mean many people are not receiving aid.