“And it means millions of people will now receive life-saving food, medical care and shelter in Syria and beyond”.
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The neighbouring countries had also, he said, made a “courageous commitment” to open their economies to provide more jobs – helped with $40bn of loans and the opening of European markets that would create one million new jobs in the region.
Reports said the new strikes in Syria led to the suspension of peace talks in Geneva.
Underlining the desperate situation on the ground in Syria, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told the meeting that up to 70,000 Syrians were on the move towards his country to escape aerial bombardments on the city of Aleppo.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon thanked the nations for their generosity.
A host of world powers pledged billions of dollars in aid Thursday for refugees fleeing war-ravaged Syria on the first day of an worldwide donors conference in London.
Event in London saw promises of donations from several countries to help the population affected by the conflict in the country.
Britain announced £1.2 billion (1.6 million euros, $1.74 billion) and the United States $890 million.
Education campaigner Malala Yusafzai and 17-year-old Syrian refugee Mezon al-Melihan met with Cameron and other leaders to press for $1.4 billion for education for children in Syria and its neighbors.
But Ms Bishop says taken collectively, Australia’s financial aid to military, humanitarian and refugee settlement from Syria and Iraq has totalled more than AU $1.5 billion to date.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said it was the largest amount of money ever raised in one day for a humanitarian crisis.
“But the conference I am hosting today is about more than just money”.
“We are doing our best against very hard odds”, the king said, but added: “We have reached our limit”.
Around 4.6 million Syrians have fled to nearby countries – Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt – while hundreds of thousands have gone to Europe.
“There is a critical shortfall in life-saving aid”.
“By helping refugees, we remind ourselves of who we are, what we are against, and what we are for”, he said.
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But officials said that global aid pledges for the refugees have remained underfunded. “We can not have a generation of refugees left out of school, unable to get work, vulnerable to extremism and radicalization”, Cameron said. A country that, five years ago, boasted a 90% literacy rate but now sees migrant girls as young as 13 being married off to men by their families to protect them from extremism. In all, the United States has committed $5.1 billion in aid since 2011, the most of any nation.
