Syria: A brighter tomorrow‏ -Take Action!

Syrian children may feel little hope today, but this week we have a powerful chance to help save their future.

A staggering 6 million Syrians have fled the fighting, many of them children. In many wars, they become a ‘lost generation’ that knows guns more than books, and never get a chance to build a better life. But this time, there’s an exciting plan to change that.

Inspiring 16-year old campaigner Malala Yousafzai and UN Education Envoy Gordon Brown are teaming up with our community to issue a challenge to governments — if we can raise $1 million, we’ll call on each donor country to match us 10:1 to raise the $100+ million needed to start putting every Syrian refugee child in school! In days, Malala and Brown could personally address the Syria humanitarian summit in New York and wave the cheque from us as a challenge. Our donations could help turn this from a business as usual meeting to a major moment that spurs action.

Click below to pledge $4 – every small amount helps, and your pledge will only be processed if we reach the $1 million goal. If our challenge doesn’t work and governments don’t match us 10:1, we’ll offer a full refund. We can’t yet end Syria’s nightmare today, but we can invest in its children and a brighter future for them tomorrow:  Take Action HERE!

Children bear the brunt of wars, often becoming the most neglected and forgotten victims of conflicts created by adults. Forced to live in squalid camps and deprived of a chance to go to school, they become consumed with anger, restlessness, and desperation. The cost of inaction is too high — unless we act, Syria’s children could graduate not into jobs but into violence.

The plan to stop this: leverage enough funding to start putting every refugee child in school. It would start in Lebanon, where nearly 400,000 Syrian kids live without access to education. Schools could be kept open day and night in double or even triple shifts, and hire back Syrian refugees who were former teachers, providing school meals to tackle hunger as we tackle illiteracy.

It only takes $5 to educate a Syrian refugee child for a week — now imagine if each of us donated, then got donor countries to multiply what we pledge times 10! In a matter of weeks, we could send hundreds of thousands of Syrian children to school, allowing them to dream for a better future. But this might only happen if our community provides the leadership and example that pushes government donors to follow.

Once we raise $1 million, Gordon Brown and Malala will present our initiative ahead of the UN Syria donor conference this month, pushing governments to match our citizens’ pledge 10:1. We’ll lobby behind the scenes and rally the media ahead of the conference so donors are feeling the heat. Click here to pledge $4 — together we can stop Syria’s children from becoming another lost generation:

Our community has stood by the Syrian people from the very beginning of this conflict — 60,000 of us have donated to send over a million dollars of aid and communications equipment to non-violent protesters, we’ve worked with citizen journalists to break Assad’s information blackout, and millions of us have joined dozens of campaigns for international action. But Syria’s journey to peace may take far longer than we’d hoped, and it’s become more important than ever to invest in the dreams of her children.

With hope,

Ricken, Jamie, Laura, Luis, Mais, Alice, Bissan, Rewan, David and the rest of the Avaaz team

PS – Many Avaaz campaigns are started by members of our community!

Start yours now and win on any issue – local, national or global.

 

More information: 

• Gordon Brown’s school plan for Syria’s refugees (BBC)

• Syria crisis: Child refugees reach ‘one million’ (BBC)

• Syria: UN child specialists warn of new ‘lost generation’ amid crisis (The Guardian)

• At refugee camp, nothing makes sense (CNN)