�鶹APP

Welcome to our coverage of the Supporting Syria and the Region pledging conference in London. The international community is gathering to raise money to help the millions of people affected by the Syrian conflict.

Here are the main education-related points so far:

British Prime Minister David Cameron��has promised to use UK aid to help one million Syrian refugee children currently not in school to get an education��in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan.

The Global Business Coalition for Education has announced the private sector has committed £75 million to support the education of one million refugee children in host countries.

Norway will double its funding for Syrian refugees to��about $280 million �鶹APP� with 15% of it earmarked for education and child protection.

The United States announces new funding of $290 million��specifically for education in Lebanon and Jordan.

If you want to know more about the background to the conference,

BEFORE WE START�鶹APP�

Picture: Getty Images/Ben Pruchnie

Young Syrian refugees have sent hundreds of hand-printed messages to world leaders, asking them to provide education for every child.

TV�鶹APP�s Downton Abbey star Laura Carmichael and Soulayma Mardam �鶹APP� a Global Youth Ambassador for A World at School �鶹APP� delivered the messages on Wednesday against the backdrop of the famous Big Ben tower in London.

and find out what Laura and Soulayma had to say about providing education for every Syrian refugee child.

8am UPDATE

A key announcement this morning from David Cameron. The UK Prime Minister says: �鶹APP�We will use our aid money to support Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan in making sure that every child in these countries will have access to education by the end of the next school year.

�鶹APP�This will mean one million children currently not in school getting an education.

In , Mr Cameron writes: �鶹APP�We are already the world�鶹APP�s second biggest bilateral donor to the region and we will now more double our total pledge to over $2.3 billion �鶹APP� committing twice as much this year as last.�鶹APP�

He adds: �鶹APP�We will use our aid money to support Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan in making sure that every refugee and vulnerable child in those countries will have access to education by the end of the next school year. This will mean one million children currently not in school getting an education.�鶹APP�

BACKING FROM BUSINESSES

Sarah Brown visits Syrian refugee students at Mtein school at Mount Lebanon Picture: Anthony Achkar

Sarah Brown, Executive Chair of the (GBC-Education), has outlined new commitments and partnerships from the private sector to help support one million Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey get an education this year.

The announcement will be made at the conference, where GBC-Education convened private sector partners from around the world alongside the conference hosts, UN agencies, and key donors.

She said: �鶹APP�The challenge of getting one million Syrian children in school this year requires urgent and innovative support from all sectors, and the business community has a unique role in tackling some of the barriers stopping children getting a quality education.�鶹APP�

EDUCATION SESSION

A special education event at the conference has been convened by GBC-Education, with an array of guest speakers who are experts in the field of global education.

After opening remarks from Borge Brende, Norway�鶹APP�s foreign minister, education campaigner Malala Yousafzai is addressing the meeting. She introduces a very special guest �鶹APP� Muzoon Almellehan, whose family fled from Syria to Jordan and is now living in the UK..

����

Muzoon��Almellehan from Syria tells of her hopes and dreams����

Muzoon, a 17-year-old who dreams of becoming a journalist, says: �鶹APP�I am only one girl but I am here today to speak for all refugee children.�鶹APP�

She adds: �鶹APP�We need education because Syria needs us. Without us who will bring peace?�鶹APP� Talking about the so-called Lost Generation of Syrian young people, Muzoon says: �鶹APP�We are not lost �鶹APP� we have not lost our love of learning. We have not lost hope.�鶹APP�

Now we hear from Justine Greening, Britain�鶹APP�s Secretary of State for International Development. She says: �鶹APP�We have got about half of the children into school but it�鶹APP�s not enough. We need everyone to step up to the plate at this conference.�鶹APP�

Lebanon�鶹APP�s education minister Elias Bou Saab then outlines the challenges of educating 400,000 Syrian refugee students living in his country.

�鶹APP�We said, let�鶹APP�s build a system where we can get every child in school.�鶹APP�

�鶹APP� GBCEducation (@gbceducation)

Imad Fakhoury, Jordanian Minister for Planning, outlines what his country is doing to provide education for refugees in his country.

He says: �鶹APP�The burden has reached its saturation point.�鶹APP� He says Jordan has had to hire 6000 extra teachers and 17% of local students are attending double-shift schools, where Jordanian and Syrian children are educated in the same school building at different times.

Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chair of Qatar Foundation and Education Above All, talks about the importance of partnerships and announces funding to educate one million primary-age children.

UNICEF executive Director Anthony Lake (pictured above) says hundreds of thousands of children are already in school thanks to donors, host governments and local communities.

But he adds: �鶹APP�It is the children themselves who are the key.�鶹APP�

Sarah Brown announces the extra $75 million in funding from GBC-Education (see earlier entry and ) and then introduces some of those businesses which are helping.

Caitlin Baron from the Speed School Fund explains the work of her organisation in helping children denied an education to get back into the classroom.

Caitlin says: �鶹APP�The fund is proud to have committed to raise $20 million to enable Syrian refugee children to be ready to take up places in government schools. Through accelerated learning programmes, we enable children to enter school at grade level and progress with their peers.�鶹APP�

Caitlin Baron from the Speed School Fund

Sarah then introduces Romen Mathieu, from ITWORX Education via the EuroMENA Fund.

He says getting one million children into school this year would be extremely challenging using conventional methods. But he adds:���鶹APP�The good news is that if we use technology it is completely possible to bring eduction to every one of them, wherever they are. This is what the private sector can bring.�鶹APP�

Alex Asseily, founder of Jawbone, says: �鶹APP�When we can learn adaptively, we can change our strategies in real time and that allows us to spend our money more judiciously and allows us to move faster.�鶹APP�

Good session at Supporting Syria & The Region conference with commitments for education coming

�鶹APP� Sarah Brown (@SarahBrownUK)

John Fallon, chief executive of Pearson, talks about leveraging companies�鶹APP� own employees, saying they �鶹APP�expect us to be involved�鶹APP� in work like this and �鶹APP�want to be involved themselves�鶹APP�.

After the GBC-Education section, we hear from��Paige Alexander, USAID Assistant Administrator. She announces an increase of US funding specifically for education in Lebanon and Jordan to about $300 million. �鶹APP�None of us can do this alone,�鶹APP� she adds.

Massa Mufti, CEO of Sonbola, talks about providing education for Syrian children in Lebanon �鶹APP� and the important role of Syrian teachers. .

��The top table as the education side event finishes��

Tove Wang, CEO of Save The Children Norway, pays tribute to the NGOs working on the ground in Syria. She adds: �鶹APP�The plan requires money, it also requires policy and system change.It also needs security because schools are being attacked every day.�鶹APP�

Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, says: �鶹APP�This is a complex issue. We have to have informal as well as formal education. There is huge learning gap among Syrian youth.��Tomorrow these young people have to find jobs and be part of their societies.�鶹APP�

Borge Brende and Justine Greening then sum up the education session.

Ms Greening says: �鶹APP�We have a clearer idea now of what we have to do and how to do it.�鶹APP�

Mr Brende pays tribute to the host communities and adds: �鶹APP�If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.�鶹APP�

Syrian and Lebanese students sit together in classes at a mixed elementary public school in Beirut Lebanon Picture: Adam Patterson/Panos/DFID

THE MAIN CONFERENCE BEGINS

With the education side event over, it�鶹APP�s time for the co-hosts to welcome everyone to the main plenary session. British Prime Minister David Cameron is first to speak.

He says: �鶹APP�If ever there was a time to take a new approach to the humanitarian crisis in Syria, surely it is now. �鶹APP�

Mr Cameron adds that the vital tasks for donors include education. He says: �鶹APP�We do not want a generation to miss out on school and all that it means for their life chances.�鶹APP�

He introduces Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary-General, who says: �鶹APP�Today let us commit to getting all Syrian refugee children into school within months, not years.�鶹APP�

Today the world has to act �鶹APP� and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon agrees.

�鶹APP� A World at School (@aworldatschool)

Norway has been leading the way in the fight for education funds for Syrian refugee children. So it�鶹APP�s fitting that Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg is here.

She announces that Norway will double its funds for the Syrian crisis to about $280 million �鶹APP� with 15% of it earmarked for education and child protection. In total it is pledging $1.6 billion over the next four years.

Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg addresses the conference

Now we go into specific, themed pledging sessions, with education later today. So let�鶹APP�s remind ourselves of why getting all Syrian children into school is so vital.

IT�鶹APP�S ALL ABOUT THE CHILDREN

Syrian girls and boys are talented young people who need education if they are to fulfil their potential. We found 10 amazing youngsters for our Hope for Syria�鶹APP�s Young Talent campaign. .

And watch this moving and inspirational video about three brothers who use rap to express their feelings about Syria and their new life in Lebanon.

A BIG PLEDGE FROM THE USA

US Secretary of State John Kerry uses the humanitarian pledging session to announce $290 million in new funding specifically to support schooling for 300,000 children in Jordan and Lebanon.

It�鶹APP�s part of the overall American pledge of $925 million to support Syrians.

GETTING THE MESSAGE ACROSS

Tom Fletcher �鶹APP� Global Strategy Director of GBC-Education, has been appearing on the BBC�鶹APP�s flagship World at One radio show.

He says: �鶹APP�Our great hope is that we�鶹APP�re going to have finance in place at the end of the day to get one million Syrian kids into school.

�鶹APP�That means one million Syrian kids who won�鶹APP�t be making that perilous journey across the Mediterranean, who won�鶹APP�t be easy prety for those who would like to see them in suicide vests �鶹APP� but back where they actually want to be �鶹APP� behind their desks and studying.�鶹APP�

Syrian children taking part in a reading challenge Picture: Facebook/Sonbola

That�鶹APP�s exactly the message from some of the world�鶹APP�s leading charities and aid agencies working inside Syria or across the region with Syrian refugees �鶹APP� including A World at School�鶹APP�s parent charity �鶹APP, Save The Children and Plan International.

ahead of the conference, which read: �鶹APP�We are calling on the participants in the London conference to commit to ensure all children and young people affected by the conflict have access to safe, quality, and relevant educational opportunities during the 2016/2017 academic year and on an ongoing basis.�鶹APP�

Kolleen Bouchane, Director of Policy, Research and Advocacy for A World at School and GBC-Education, has been at the conference.

But she�鶹APP�s taken time out to write a blog for the Huffington Post, in which she says: �鶹APP�Today for the first time, education was front and centre of the humanitarian response agenda.�鶹APP�

��Refugee Fatima, 12, in a mixed Syrian and Lebanese class in Beirut ��P��icture: Addam Patterson/Panos/DFID

NEW THINKING IS NEEDED

During the Inside Syria session, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon makes another impassioned plea for education funding. Hey says:���鶹APP�Inside Syria, nearly one child in three is out of school. Women and girls are enslaved and children, the sick and elderly are at risk of malnutrition and starvation.�鶹APP�

He adds: �鶹APP�We must build on initiatives such as UNICEF�鶹APP�s No Lost Generation campaign and my special envoy Gordon Brown�鶹APP�s proposal to get one million Syrian children into school in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.

�鶹APP�These steps will require substantial financial commitments, new partnerships and innovative thinking.�鶹APP�

EDUCATION IS THE PRIORITY

It�鶹APP�s 3.30pm UK time and now we begin a special pledging session on education, hosted and co-chaired by Norway and Lebanon.

First to speak is Norway�鶹APP�s Prime Minister Erna Solberg, who says: �鶹APP�The message from this conference must be clear. We are committed to fulfilling the rights of all Syrian children to education.

�鶹APP�We are ready to provide the resources for all Syrian children and host community children in neighbouring countries to have access to education by the beginning of the school year.�鶹APP�

Justine Greening is about to introduce education campaigner and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai. As she does, she says:���鶹APP�Young people have the ability to change our world for the better, with your energy and your inspiration.�鶹APP�

Malala Yousafzai makes her plea to the conference

Malala says: �鶹APP�I am here because I cannot tolerate that the world is staying silent while Syria is suffering.

�鶹APP�I�鶹APP�m here to remind you that Syria�鶹APP�s future depends on its children. And their future depends on you and the decisions you make.�鶹APP�

Talking about her own family�鶹APP�s flight from the Swat Valley in Pakistan, she adds: �鶹APP�I know what it is like to be forced out of your country. It saddens me that that experience is shared by millions of people and children right now.�鶹APP�

Referring to the so-called Lost Generation of Syrian children, Malala says: �鶹APP�These children will only be lost if you choose to give up on them. These children will only be lost if you choose to fail them.�鶹APP�

Lebanon�鶹APP�s education minister, Elias Bou Saab, has been at the forefront of efforts to give Syrian children an education through the double-shift system.

He tells the conference of his own experience as a refugee in 1992, when he missed a year of school when his family fled from Lebanon to Syria.

Elias Bou Saab in tears as he tells the story of Mohammed

The room is then silent as �鶹APP� fighting back tears and his voice choked with emotion �鶹APP� he tells of an incident just four weeks ago.

�鶹APP�Mohammed, seven years old, died in school,�鶹APP� says Mr Bou Saab. �鶹APP�Mohammed is a Syrian refugee. I asked to speak to his father in the hospital and he told me he had five children in the same school.

�鶹APP�But he�鶹APP�s happy that Mohammed had an opportunity to die while he had a chance to go to school.

�鶹APP�He walked out of the room, walked into the other three rooms where his brothers and sisters are, looked at them and went back to his room and died because he is sick. His father didn�鶹APP�t know of his illness.

�鶹APP�The international community is to be thanked that Mohammed, before he died, and his brothers and the rest will get an opportunity to go to school.�鶹APP�

�鶹APP�This is what refugees want desperately.�鶹APP� on education and livelihoods at today

�鶹APP� UN Refugee Agency (@Refugees)

Tunisian tourist minister and business leader Dr Amel Karboul talks about the value of the private sector in delivering education to refugees.

She mentions the commitments of . She adds that the the private sector can bring �鶹APP�creative, maybe even disruptive�鶹APP� solutions �鶹APP� and says technology can take education to children who cannot go to a physical school.

DELIVERING ON THE PROMISE

The final part of today�鶹APP�s proceedings is the press conference with the co-hosts. David Cameron says the Syria conference has raised more than $10 billion in pledges �鶹APP� �鶹APP�the largest amount of money ever raised in one day in response to a humanitarian crisis�鶹APP�.

He says the money raised will mean one million refugee children in neighbouring countries will definitely be able to go to school.

Mr Cameron adds:���鶹APP�Today has been and is a day of hope, a day about saving lives, a day about building futures, a day about giving people the chance of a future, the chance of a life.�鶹APP�

Ban Ki-moon thanks the governments of Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey for choosing solidarity instead of fear. He adds: �鶹APP�Never has the international community raised so much on a single day for a single crisis.�鶹APP�

With the official conference over, of our amazing Global Youth Ambassadors then deliveres the messages from Syrian children to the UN Secretary-General.

��