Britain pledges another $1.75 billion in aid for Syria, region

Britain has pledged another $1.75 billion dollars in aid to Syria and the region, the government said Thursday ahead of an international donors' conference in London.

The promise came as representatives from 70 countries and organizations were scheduled to meet to discuss ways to ease a humanitarian and migration crisis caused by four-and-a-half years of conflict and civil war in Syria.

"With hundreds of thousands of people risking their lives crossing the Aegean or the Balkans, now is the time to take a new approach to the humanitarian disaster in Syria," Prime Minister David Cameron said in a statement.

"More money is needed to tackle this crisis and it is needed now," he added.

Cameron said using fundraising for stability, jobs and education could create a future model for humanitarian relief.

Providing a sense of hope could stop people thinking they have no option but to risk their lives on a dangerous journey to Europe, he added.

The latest pledge will take Britain's total for the region to more than $3.3 billion.

The UN is appealing for $7 billion in humanitarian funding for Syria.