Syrian refugees welcome the Syria donors conference which was held in London on Thursday, in the hope of being lifted out of dilemma by funds raised in the conference .
The donors conference – Supporting Syria & the Region – in London where representatives of 70 nations met has managed to pledge over ten billion U.S. dollars that will get urgent medical care, nutrition needs and job creation for refugees affected by the ongoing crisis in Syria. The funds will be delivered to the UN and regional countries that house Syrian refugees from Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon.
“God willing, this conference will help us. For the sake of our children’s lives, we wish them all the best. We need help to feed our children. There are no job opportunities and we are not receiving anything. Life is very difficult,” said Ahmed Nafel, Syrian refugee from Deraa.
“Ninety percent of refugees are unemployed. I work part-time here, three hours daily, and I earn about 4 dollars. There are no job opportunities, so I hope that this donor conference will succeed in creating jobs. We are skilled people. You can find many refugees who studied medicine and engineering, and other professionals in many fields, all unemployed in this camp,” said Mazen al-Ali, a Syrian refugee.
But pledging the money doesn’t necessarily mean the money will be delivered – less than half the amounts that were pledged in 2015 was actually delivered.
The meeting comes less than a day after much anticipated peace talks to end the Syrian war collapsed in Geneva after the UN envoy to Syria said more tangible results on the ground are needed, and the UN suspended the talks until Feb. 25. (CCTV/Reuters)