Campaigning group Avaaz and money transfer company Western Union also raising funds in support of proposals prepared for UN Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown
An emergency committee of young people from around the world has called on the international community to back a plan to provide schooling for Syrian refugee children in Lebanon.
In a meeting held on the fringes of the UN General Assembly in New York, the group – assembled by UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown and comprising young people originating from Syria itself as well as Jordan, India and Sierra Leone – appealed to international donors to fund the $175 million per year proposals that would bring education to 400,000 child refugees within weeks and months.
Global campaigning organisation Avaaz has already encouraged its 26 million members to back the proposals in a flash funding appeal which has raised over $1 million in just a few days, with donations received from 143 countries. Avaaz is now demanding that institutional donors match the funds by 10:1.
Money transfer giant Western Union is also supporting the proposals, announcing this morning details of how donations can be made at its 500,000 outlets around the world to help fund the refugee education plan, as well as online. They immediately pledged $100,000 to kick start the fund.
The Youth Education Crisis Committee is made up of chair Chernor Bah, a former refugee from Sierra Leone who now also serves as chair of the UN Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory Group on education; Farah Haddad, a student and activist originally from Damascus now studying in New Mexico; Ashwini Angadi, an Indian student who campaigns for better access to education for disabled people; and Ahmad Alhendawi, the UN’s Envoy on Youth, originally from Jordan.
Following the meeting, which was also attended by global education campaigner Malala Yousafzai, who has offered her support to the plan, Gordon Brown said:
“This is the worst refugee crisis of this century. We now have a plan to help these Syrian children, the largest single group of out-of-school children anywhere in the world.
“Just as in conflicts of the past, organisations such as Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières established the principle that healthcare should be available without boundaries, now we ask world leaders to recognise that education too should have no borders – and to back this plan.”
Speaking on behalf of the coalition, Chernor Bah said: “We understand that when crisis hits, young people lose many things, but the worst thing that they can lose is hope. We will help to amplify the voices of Syrian refugees and put concerted pressure on the international community to not let the hope of education slip for Syrian refugee children.”
Ricken Patel, Executive Director of Avaaz, added: “We still have a decision whether the children of this conflict will become leaders or a lost generation.”
Geeta Rao Gupta, Deputy Chief Executive of UNICEF, which is working to support refugees in Lebanon, said: “The international community has a responsibility to get the children of Syria back to school.”
