Syria crisis: UN issues rare joint appeal for action

The heads of five major UN agencies have issued a rare joint appeal to the international community to do much more to end "cruelty and carnage" in Syria.

In a statement, the chiefs of the WHO, Unicef, Ocha, WFP and UNHCR urged political leaders to use their influence to solve the crisis.

They said they were appealing for "something more important than funds".

The UN says at least 70,000 people have been killed and 1.2 million left homeless since the conflict began.

The agencies criticised what they described as "an insufficient sense of urgency among the governments and parties that could put a stop to the cruelty and carnage in Syria".

They said that as humanitarian organisations, they had been doing all they could to help those affected by the fighting by providing shelter, food and other basic necessities, "but it has not nearly been enough".

"The needs are growing while our capacity to do more is diminishing," the statement said.

The groups said that because of insecurity and funding difficulties, "we are precariously close, perhaps within weeks, to suspending some humanitarian support".