Prime Minister David Cameron called on the international community ahead of a London conference to pledge billions of dollars in aid to the hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees fleeing the country’s bloody five-year civil war.
The conference, taking place in Westminster on Thursday, involves representatives from 70 countries, including US Secretary of State John Kerry, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The prime minister will pledge to double British aid to Syria until 2020. Writing in the Guardian on Thursday, he said there must be a “new approach” to the humanitarian crisis.
“Sufficient funding to guarantee the basics of life that these refugees need must be the bare minimum expected of us,” he wrote.
International Development Secretary Justine Greening also called for a stronger response to the crisis.
“It’s not just about what the UK can do, we want to also play a role in getting the rest of the international community to really take responsibility and work to help countries like Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, who are so generous in hosting these refugees.”
Cameron has predicted that the conference will generate more than the $4.5 billion raised throughout 2015. It is the first fundraising conference to be held at state level and will attract more press attention than other gatherings.
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The UN has said some $9 billion must be raised in order to meet the demand for schools, access to work for Syrians and other humanitarian aid. However, it is believed negotiations between states continued late into Wednesday night. So far, $7 billion has been secured – $2billion short of the total.
Last year, the UN only raised half of the funds it required for Syria.
Foreign Office minister Tobias Ellwood said it is necessary to raise more money or “another one million people will turn their back on Syria.”
The meeting in London comes after the UN special envoy to Syria delayed peace talks in Geneva until later in February, saying he would not “talk for the sake of talking.”
On Wednesday Staffan de Mistura explained more needed to be done by stakeholders to prepare for the talks.
“I have concluded frankly that after the first week of preparatory talks there is more work to be done, not only by us but by the stakeholders,” he said after three days of talks.
“I have indicated from the first day that I won’t talk for the sake of talking.”
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