Donor conference pledges billions for Syria

(Vatican Radio) World leaders from 70 countries have been meeting in London Thursday to pledge billions to help Syrians displaced by war. The one-day meeting, is aimed at gathering donations and agreeing on plans for economic and educational projects to help the 4.6 million Syrians who have sought refuge in neighbouring countries including Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.

The meeting opened hours after the latest U.N.-led bid to start peace talks in Geneva was suspended for three weeks.

The U.N. and regional countries say they need $9 billion in assistance for 2016 alone, as the situation in the region deteriorates.

Britain and Norway pledged on Thursday to spend an additional $2.9 billion in aid for Syrians by 2020.

This year's organizers, which include Britain, Germany and the U.N. are also hoping and try to slow the exodus of refugees to Europe.

Frances Guy is head of Christian Aid’s Middle East region and the UK’s former Ambassador to Lebanon.

On Wednesday  she attended the Civil Society Conference on Supporting Syria and the Region, ahead of Thursday’s meeting. The civil society conference was aimed at raising awareness of the situation in Syria, with an emphasis on making the voices of Syrians heard and putting a spotlight on the experiences of Syrian people affected by the conflict.

Speaking to Lydia O’Kane she said, “it was very moving yesterday and I believe they are probably speaking in front of the main plenary (Thursday’s donor conference) but the Syrian NGO’s who came and spoke… they have come from Aleppo and they passionately and very clearly said, …stop the bombs, give us a little bit of aid to help reconstruct and we will all be going home tomorrow. That’s what they need, they need an end to the conflict, obviously, but even a temporary halt to the bombing would help enormously.

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Stressing that the London donor meeting should not be a “wasted opportunity”, she commented that “Syrians taking refuge in neighbouring countries need the assurance that funding can bring, but they also need to see host governments change policy so that Syrian children can access education, so that Syrians can work and contribute to their host countries, and so that Syrians can be protected from those who seek to abuse them.”