The donor conference, the fourth of its kind, hopes to meet the UN's demand for $7.73 billion to help Syria plus $1.23 billion assistance for countries in the region affected by the crisis.
British Prime Minister David Cameron will host more than 70 international leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
The global war on Syria has claimed more than 260,000 lives and caused a major humanitarian crisis. It forced 4.6 million Syrians to seek refuge in countries in the region, while hundreds of thousands have attempted to reach Europe, sometimes paying with their lives while making the risky crossing of the Mediterranean.
However, donors need to do more than just dig deep financially, Cameron urged.
"We need to agree concrete action," he said, calling for the provision of jobs and education in countries neighboring Syria as the living conditions of refugees deteriorate by the day.
"This is not just in the interests of Syria and her neighbors," he added.
"It is in the interests of Europe too. The more we do to enable people to stay in the region, the less likely we are to see them coming to Europe," Cameron said.
AFP
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2/2/16
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Syria Aid Conference to Seek Record $9B for 2016 ...
ReplyDeleteInternational aid to the victims of Syria's five-year war, including millions forced to flee their homes, has persistently fallen short, but organizers of Thursday's annual Syria pledging conference hope for greater generosity this time around, despite a record request of close to $9 billion for 2016.
The expectations are partly based on the reframing of the aid debate over the past year, following the chaotic migration of hundreds of thousands of desperate Syrians to Europe.
Donor countries trying to slow the influx would arguably serve their own interests as much as lofty principles of international solidarity if they give more and spend in smarter ways to improve refugees' lives and ease the burden on Middle Eastern host countries.
"I do think the European experience will have sharpened minds," Guy Ryder, head of the International Labor Organization, told The Associated Press while visiting Jordan, one of the struggling host countries. "And I don't think that's a bad thing if it leads to action (on Thursday), as I hope it will."
Stark reality
The stark reality of a drawn-out conflict requiring more ambitious long-term aid plans has also sunk in........AP.......http://www.voanews.com/content/syria-aid-conference-to-seek-record-nine-billion-dollars-in-2016/3174492.html