ONE Campaign responds to refugee summit in New York

“These children have already lost their homes. They shouldn’t lose their futures, too.” 

NEW YORK — The ONE Campaign responded to the Leaders’ Summit on the Global Refugee Crisis on Tuesday.

Adrian Lovett, the interim CEO of The ONE Campaign, said:

“If the world was going to meet the needs of the tens of millions of people uprooted by conflict and persecution for ever-longer periods of time, world leaders needed to step up this week with concrete commitments, better results on the ground, and a real sense of urgency and ambition. President Obama and his fellow world leaders can be proud of the work they’ve put into this summit, and the results achieved. Once delivered, these commitments they’ve made are significant and could make a real difference for people who need help.

“Funding is key. We welcome countries’ pledges to substantially increase humanitarian financing from 2015 levels and we need to ensure these increases hold in future years. Displacement can stretch into decades, and the reality is: we have to do more. Donors need to breathe life into these commitments by making and delivering on concrete, multi-year pledges to support the education of refugee children as quickly as possible.

“ONE is grateful for the commitments of participating countries to support refugees and refugee-hosting countries. ONE’s 7.5 million members will now work to hold leaders accountable for the commitments they made here and work to ensure that those countries who did not participate play their part in responding to the global displacement crisis.”

Eloise Todd, the global policy director of The ONE Campaign, said:

“ONE members around the world have raised their voices to encourage world leaders to ensure that every refugee child gets the education he or she needs to thrive. We’re glad that the summit met its goal of winning commitments to improve access to education for a million more refugee children. If leaders follow up, these commitments will transform lives. Participating refugee-hosting countries should be applauded for committing to make the bold changes necessary for this to happen.

“This is a great first step, but let’s be clear: this is just a first step. Even if every commitment made this week is delivered, there will still be 2.7 million refugee children out of school. Donors and refugee-hosting countries need to work together urgently to ensure that all refugee children are getting an education within 30 days of being displaced. These children have already lost their homes. They shouldn’t lose their futures, too.”