Donor countries are meeting in Kuwait, with the United Nations asking for $US7.7 billion to deal with the crisis in Syria. It's the biggest appeal in response to a humanitarian emergency in the history of the UN.
The meeting is being held as reports emerge of starvation in areas cut off by fighting, with people eating grass and leaves, the BBC reports.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, left, Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah and Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khaled al-Sabah attend the meeting. Photo: AFP
Chris Gunness of the UN relief agency, UNRWA, described conditions in Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus.
"It's unimaginable. There's widespread incidents of malnutrition, there's almost a complete lack of medical care. Women are dying in childbirth, people with severe conflict-related injuries are desperately in need of medical supplies. People have been surviving on diets of stale vegetables and animal feed."
Meanwhile, Germany and France are increasingly concerned that hundreds of their citizens are going to Syria to fight for Islamist groups and may use their expertise to carry out attacks at home.
Australia's Attorney-General George Brandis has also warned of the risk to Australia's national security of its citizens getting involved in foreign conflicts.
According to Syria's deputy foreign minister, Faisal Mekhdad, western intelligence agencies have discussed it with their Syrian counterparts.
Nearly three years into Syria's conflict, there is mounting concern about the threat posed by radical Islamist groups and their foreign fighters.
Dr Mekhdad told the BBC many Western intelligence agencies have recently gone to Damascus asking for security cooperation.
He spoke of a schism between Western security officials and the politicians who continue to call on President Bashar al-Asad to stand down.
Britain's Foreign Office told the BBC that it does not comment on intelligence matters.
Scheme to get refugees in school
The United Nations Special Envoy for Education has launched a scheme to get 400,000 Syrian refugee children in Lebanon into school.
Gordon Brown. Photo: AFP
Gordon Brown is calling on donors attending a Syria pledging conference in Kuwait to provide more than $US230 million, the BBC reports.
The former British prime minister says the future prospects of the refugee children are in danger.
"Here is a country that has moved from a first world standard, where almost every child was at school, to a situation where most children who are refugees now are excluded from school, but the parents want them to get back to school.
"We see the demand for education and we see the frustration of children at being denied the chance of preparing for the employment that they will want to have later in life."
The scheme involves running double shifts in existing Lebanese schools, holding classes in community buildings and tents, and recruiting teachers from among Syrian refugees.
