If ever there was a time for a new approach to the humanitarian crisis in Syria, it is surely now. We are facing a critical shortfall in life-saving aid and a desperate movement of humanity. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians fear they have no alternative but to put their lives in the hands of evil people-smugglers, risking the prospect of freezing to death in the Balkans or drowning in the waters of the Aegean in search of a future.

The conference I am hosting in London tomorrow is seeking to change this. The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, Norway’s prime minister, Erna Solberg, His Highness the emir of Kuwait and I are working with more than 60 countries to deliver a new approach: combining a renewed effort on aid with a long-term plan that can offer Syrians hope for a better future in the region.

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It begins by addressing the shortfall in UN funding that is fatally holding back the humanitarian effort. Last year, across the whole international community, only half of the money requested by the UN was raised. This meant that tens of thousands went without enough food, shelter or healthcare, and more than half a million Syrians attempted the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean. This is not acceptable: providing sufficient funding to guarantee the basics of life refugees need must be the bare minimum expected of us.



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So we are determined that the international community should do better. By building on the work of previous conferences in Kuwait, I hope we can deliver billions of dollars more at the conference tomorrow than was raised in the entirety of last year. Britain will play its part. We are already the world’s second biggest bilateral donor to the region, and we will now more than double our total pledge to over £2.3bn – committing twice as much this year as last.

But if remaining in the region is to be a viable option for Syrian refugees, we need to move beyond short-term disaster relief. When I visited Jordan and Lebanon in September last year, and met some of the refugees who had fled the violence in Syria, they told me what they really wanted: an education for their children, a job to provide for their families, and the chance one day to return to Syria and rebuild their homes.

So tomorrow’s conference will pioneer a new international approach to deliver each of these elements, now and for the long term.

First, building on the work that my international development secretary, Justine Greening, has been leading, we will ensure there is no lost generation as a result of this crisis. We will use our aid money to support Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan in making sure that every refugee and every vulnerable child in those countries will have access to education by the end of the next school year. This will mean 1 million children currently not in school getting an education.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A Syrian refugee carries her grandson in the eastern town of Kab Elias, Lebanon. Photograph: Bilal Hussein/AP

Providing this education is humanitarian and right – but it is also essential for long-term stability. A generation of refugees left out of school means a generation of young adults not only unable to get work but also more vulnerable to extremism and radicalisation. Preventing this is in all our interests.

Second, the international community will come together to ensure that hundreds of thousands of jobs are created across the region – for refugees and for the communities hosting them. To do this, we will provide greater access for Jordanian businesses to the European market. The Lebanese government will unveil an innovative new approach to support private sector job creation. And we will support increased British and international business activity in the region, with the business secretary, Sajid Javid, leading a business taskforce to help this effort.

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With UK support, the international financial institutions will also provide cheaper loans to help Jordan and Lebanon build new infrastructure and reshape their economies to deal with the huge influx of people, which their small populations can barely support.

Third, tomorrow’s conference will also reaffirm our commitment to Syria’s future. This means continuing to support the 13.5 million people inside Syria who need urgent assistance, and ensuring that brave aid workers can access the hundreds of thousands of innocent Syrians trapped in besieged towns. It means redoubling our efforts to prevent the intolerable levels of violence against civilians, ensuring all parties in the conflict bring an immediate end to the continuing violations of international humanitarian law. And it means that as we continue the international peace process that is working towards a political transition, we will also begin planning for the stabilisation effort that will be needed to support the Syrian people in rebuilding their country.

The London conference is a radical attempt to refocus the efforts of the international community on saving lives in Syria, and preventing refugees from risking their lives in despair. While we continue to strive for a peaceful Syria, we must provide the hope that only long-term prospects of economic and social stability can bring.