The conference, to be held on 30 January in Kuwait, follows a $1.5 billion appealed launched last week by the United Nations and its partners, who have been hampered in their efforts to carry out relief activities due to lack of funds.

The pledging conference is “a timely and much-needed opportunity to address the funding gap,” said a statement issued today by Mr. Ban’s spokesperson. “The Secretary-General urges all Member States to be generous in their pledges and is thankful to those who continue to support the humanitarian efforts.”

The bulk of the appeal – $1 billion – is to support refugees fleeing Syria to Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey and Egypt. It is based on planning estimates that up to a million Syrian refugees will need help during the first half of next year.

Another $519 million will be needed to support an estimated four million people inside Syria who need urgent humanitarian assistance, including an estimated two million internally displaced persons.

This winter, many families are struggling to keep warm, without adequate shelter, warm clothes and heating fuel, the statement noted, adding that children make up more than 50 per cent of the civilians affected by the crisis.

At least 20,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Syria since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in early 2011, according to UN, while activists raise the number at 44,000. Recent months have witnessed an escalation in the conflict, which is now in its 22nd month.

Meanwhile, the Joint Special Representative of the UN and the League of Arab States for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, travelled to Moscow to meet with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and has said that Syria faces a choice between “hell or a political process”, urging the international community find a political solution to the crisis.

On his turn, Lavrov said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was insisting on staying in power and nothing could be done to convince him of stepping down.

This is the latest in a series of meetings in the region and elsewhere – including with Assad in Damascus earlier this week – held by the Joint Special Representative as part of his efforts to bring about a negotiated, political solution to end the fighting in Syria.