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Tom Fletcher asked people to put pressure on world leaders

The British public were urged today to help Syrian refugee children get an education by signing the .

The plea came from Tom Fletcher, the former UK Ambassador to Lebanon and now Director of Global Strategy for the

Tom appeared on the BBCÂ鶹APP™s flagship radio news show Today, which has more than seven million listeners each week. He said world leaders should back a  in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.

Speaking about the growing refugee crisis in the Middle East that is spreading into Europe, he added: Â鶹APPœThis is not a crisis that we suddenly discovered over the summer. This is something that has been growing for almost five years.

Â鶹APPœOne in three people in Lebanon now is a refugee. So the Lebanese are really struggling and theyÂ鶹APP™ve gone through many of the questions that weÂ鶹APP™re facing now in the UK.Â鶹APP�

The plans to help one million children Â鶹APP“ published by the charity in conjunction with A World at School and GBC-Education Â鶹APP“ were written after consultation with the governments of Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon.

The three reports Â鶹APP“ one for each of the countries, which all border Syria Â鶹APP“ warn that a lack of donor funding is leaving vulnerable children out of classrooms and at risk of child labour, early marriage, exploitation and extremism.

Tom told the Radio 4 programme that the United Nations General Assembly was meeting in a few days to determine the for the next 15 years.

He said: Â鶹APPœWeÂ鶹APP™re looking for people to back the #UpForSchool Petition to put pressure on these world leaders to provide the resource for this plan. ItÂ鶹APP™s backed by the British government, itÂ鶹APP™s backed by the UN envoy Gordon Brown, itÂ鶹APP™s backed by business.Â鶹APP�

The petition is a youth-led campaign that has been signed by more than nine million people and it will be handed in to the UN General Assembly. It calls on the international community to keep its promise to get every child around the world into school and learning.

Tom Fletcher talks to school students in Lebanon

Asked about measures to help end the Syrian conflict Â鶹APP“ now in its fifth year Â鶹APP“ Tom said: Â鶹APPœThis isnÂ鶹APP™t about just putting bombs into this problem, itÂ鶹APP™s about putting books in peopleÂ鶹APP™s hands.

Â鶹APPœWe need to get hope to those kids who would otherwise be coming in our direction, hungry and angry and without hope and easy prey. If we donÂ鶹APP™t put books in their hands someone else will put swords in their hands. ItÂ鶹APP™s as simple as that.Â鶹APP�

He told the British listeners that the UK had done a lot during his time as ambassador in Beirut to help refugee children.

Tom added: Â鶹APPœThere are kids going to school today in Lebanon and across the region who have been kitted out with British textbooks. TheyÂ鶹APP™re only going to school because of the British people.Â鶹APP�