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United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the pledges made during Tuesday's Third International Pledging Conference for Syria, calling them "very generous."

The European Union has pledged 1.1 billion euros or roughly $1.2 billion in aid to Syria during theThird International Pledging Conference for Syria.

According to the Daily Star, the EU's aid CommissionerChristos Stylianides said in a statement that the pledge was made in response to an "overwhelming" need in Syria and was intended to contribute to the "extraordinary effort ... needed by the wider donor community to mobilise significant funding."

Stylianides further said that 500 million euros of the pledge will go towards "humanitarian aid, early recovery and longer-term stabilisation assistance" to Syrians displaced by the civil war and the rise of the Islamic State.

The remaining balance will be shouldered by pledges from the 28 member nations of the Union.

The conference, which was held in Kuwait City and chaired by UN head Ban-Ki Moon. was attended by representatives of more than 80 countries as well as non-governmental and charitable organisations.

In addition to the EU, major contributors included the United States with $507 million, the United Kingdom with $150 million and host country Kuwait with $500 million, while theUnited Arab Emirates promised aid to the tune of $100 million and Norway pitched in $93 million.

Charitable groups and non-government organisations committed to giving aid worth $500 million and $506 million, respectively.

The Daily Star said that total pledges reached $3.8 billion, slightly lower than the $3.9 billion in pledges made in the conference last year.

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European Union pledges 1.1 billion euros in aid to Syria

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The European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (EIUC) is an interdisciplinary centre of excellence formed by 41 universities from all European Union Member States.

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Interview: Prof. Manfred Nowak, University of Vienna - Video

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BRUSSELS: European Union lawmakers backed on Tuesday a long-term plan to end overfishing of cod, sprat and herring stocks in the Baltic Sea, the first such plan to be adopted under the EU's reformed common fisheries policy.

European Parliament members (MEPs) in the Fisheries Committee passed the multiannual plan which would combine the management of cod, herring and sprat stocks into a single plan to take account of their interdependence.

Cod feed on sprats and herrings, and herrings and sprats sometimes feed on the eggs of cod, meaning the health of one stock affects the others.

Currently, only cod are subject to a management plan.

By managing several species together the plan can better take into account their feeding habits as well as environmental conditions which affect stock levels, leading to more sustainable fishing, according to the European Commission.

"The multispecies approach is much more effective than managing a single species," said MEP Jaroslaw Walesa who is leading the proposal through parliament.

MEPs strengthened the original Commission proposal by requiring that stocks be kept above levels which ensure that no more fish are caught than a given stock can reproduce in a year.

"The plan for the Baltic proposed by the European Commission was not complete, but the MEPs have succeeded in improving it," said Lasse Gustavsson, executive director of marine conservation group Oceana.

The multiannual plan for the stocks of cod, herring and sprat in the Baltic Sea was proposed by the Commission in October last year.

The proposal will now be voted on at a plenary session of the European Parliament at the end of April before negotiations between member states and lawmakers can start.

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EU lawmakers back plan to end overfishing in the Baltic sea