UN relief chief to travel to Jordan to see Syrian refugees

The UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, Stephen O'Brien (R), visits a refugee camp that hosts Syrian refugees, near the city of Mafraq, Jordan, Sept. 19, 2015. The UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, Stephen O'Brien, is on a visit to Jordan to meet with government officials and Syrian refugees in the country. (Xinhua/Mohammad Abu Ghosh)

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 18 -- The UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, Stephen O'Brien, is expected to travel to Jordan on Sept. 19-21 to meet with government officials and Syrian refugees in the country, a UN spokesman announced here Friday.

"Mr. O'Brien is scheduled to meet with Jordanian government officials, UN agencies and humanitarian partner organizations, and meet Syrian refugees and the communities hosting them in Jordan," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.

During his visit, O'Brien is scheduled to meet with the prime minister of Jordan, Abdullah Ensour, and other high-level government officials in Amman to "discuss ways of strengthening the aid operations of the UN and humanitarian partners, and how to support the host communities in Jordan," Dujarric said.

O'Brien is also scheduled to visit the Al-Zaatari refugee camp to meet Syrian refugees and local residents affected by the crisis, and visit a refugee support project funded by the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), he added.

Jordan is one of Syria's neighboring countries to host refugees from the Middle East country, which has been haunted by a political crisis that erupted in March 2011 and subsequent civil war.

Jordan has repeatedly urged donor community to increase aid, warning that any reduction in aid will have negative consequences on the refugees and host communities.

More than 1.5 million Syrian refugees fled the violence in their country to Jordan since early 2011 to date.