Kerry calls for global refugee support
January 22, 2016
Addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, US State Secretary John Kerry said on Friday that President Barack Obama's administration will seek to boost global support for refugees ahead of a refugee summit to be hosted by the US head of state.
"In response to the global refugee crisis, President Obama is going to host a summit at the UN this fall, and the summit will be the culmination of a sustained, rigorous effort to rally the world community on several fronts," said Kerry.
The US's top diplomat said that the Obama administration will seek to increase UN humanitarian funding appeals by 30 percent, while increasing the number of regular humanitarian donor countries by 10.
The aim would be to increase funding from $10 billion (9.23 billion euros) in 2015 to $13 billion (12 billion euros) at the summit in September.
The US wants "to at least double the number of refugees who are resettled or afforded safe and legal channels of admission; to expand by 10 the total number of countries admitting refugees; and to get a million children in school and a million people working legally," noted Kerry.
The state secretary's speech at Davos comes after Obama told German Chancellor Angela Merkel that the US would "contribute substantially" ahead of a donor conference slated for February 4 in London.
Merkel will co-host the donor conference in a bid to attack financial aid for Syrians who have fled their homes amid a nearly five-year civil war that displaced more than half of the country.
ls/kms (AP, AFP, Reuters)