UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos was in Syria on Thursday to look at ways to strengthen the UN's ongoing relief efforts and support its staff who continued to work in a challenging environment.

Amos, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, "had a number of positive meetings on Thursday with the Syrian authorities and humanitarian partners," UN associate spokesman Farhan Haq said at a daily news briefing.

"The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the broader UN family together have more than 4,500 staff in Syria, who are delivering humanitarian support to those in urgent need," Haq said.

Last month, Amos urged commitment by all Syrian parties "to stop actions that result in loss of civilian lives, to allow access for aid organizations, and to respect their obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law."

Syria was plunged into a political crisis in March 2011, which later developed into armed conflicts in the Middle East country and has left some 100,000 people reportedly killed.

With an estimated 5,000 desperate Syrians fleeing their homes every day, the spiraling violence has now forced more than 2 million to flee their war-torn country and left another 4.2 million internally displaced, the United Nations refugee agency said earlier this week.

There was no sign that the "humanitarian calamity" would end anytime soon, it added.

(Xinhua News Agency September 5, 2013)