Río de Janeiro, January 20 (RHC-PL) -- Brazil has pledged 300,000 U.S. dollars to support United Nations humanitarian efforts in Syria, the Foreign Ministry announced over the weekend.

The donation will reportedly help joint initiatives by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UN Children's Fund ( UNICEF), the ministry said on its website.

The money will be used to finance measures "to lift more than a million Syrian children from misery, isolation and trauma," due to the current civil war raging at home, the ministry said.

According to the UN, countries gathered at the 2nd International Humanitarian Pledging Conference for Syria last week in Kuwait Kuwait, pledged some 2.4 billion U.S. dollars, or just under 40 percent of the 6.5 billion the UN estimates is needed in 2014 to help the Syrian population suffering from the prolonged conflict.

The war between forces loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad and foreign-backed opposition fighters has claimed the lives of more than 100,000 and displaced millions of Syrians since fighting began in March 2011.