KUWAIT CITY (AP) — Kuwait, the United States and other donor nations have so far promised more than $1.2 billion of new funding to alleviate the suffering of Syrians affected by their country’s civil war at the start of an international fundraising conference today.

Millions of Syrians have been driven from their homes as a result of the crisis, now in its third year, and getting aid to many of those in need remains a challenge because they remain trapped in communities besieged by the fighting.

The United Nations is asking for a staggering $6.5 billion to help Syrians affected by the war, its largest-ever funding appeal for a single crisis.

“The fighting has set Syria back by years, even decades,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today at the start of the event at the lavish Bayan Palace in the Kuwaiti capital.

Kuwait’s emir, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, opened the conference by pledging $500 million, significantly topping the OPEC member nation’s pledge of $300 million last year.

Kuwait’s Gulf neighbor Saudi Arabia promised an additional $60 million, saying that would boost its existing round of funding to a total $250 million, though it did not specify the time period. It promised $300 million at last year’s conference.

Qatar also today promised $60 million.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. pledge of $380 million will bring brings America’s humanitarian aid contribution to Syrian victims to $1.7 billion since the war began.

Half of the money — $177 million — will go to U.N. programs for victims still in Syria. The rest is for neighboring nations that have taken in an estimated 2.3 million refugees.