UN launches record £5bn appeal for Syrian war victims

Young Syrian refugees in Lebanon are among millions in need of aid after fleeing their homeland.

The United Nations has made a renewed and record-breaking global appeal to raise £5 billion for victims of the war in Syria, after falling well short of its last request for financial help.

The new appeal is the biggest ever humanitarian appeal for a single emergency.

Officials said aid is desperately needed to help millions of people in Syria and the surrounding region.

ITV News Correspondent Neil Connery reports on the lives hanging in the balance in a nation enduring grinding misery.

Since 2011 more than 200,000 people have been killed in Syria.

More than three million fled the country and are now refugees, while a further 6.5 million have found themselves forced from their homes.

Earlier this year, the UN called for £3.6 billion to help the Syrian people amid the ongoing civil war.

But only £1.76 billion was donated by the international community - less than half the target figure.

"We need a new aid architecture," UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said, according to Reuters.

"Syria's war is still escalating and the humanitarian situation is becoming protracted. Refugees and internally displaced people have exhausted their savings and resources and host countries are at breaking point."