Other countries at the summit made similar announcements, with their leaders coming to the podium one by one to tell stories about refugee families and proclaim their commitments.
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World leaders are grappling with the largest crisis of displaced persons since World War II, more than 65 million people who have fled their homes because of armed conflict or persecution, or because they are seeking asylum or a better way of life.
“I think it’s more about how could we work with refugees to build the company we want to build”.
President Obama, in his final address as president before the U.N. General Assembly, called Tuesday for more global cooperation especially in helping refugees from war-torn countries – while making only passing reference to the Islamic State and the ever-expanding scourge of like-minded terror groups.
Other persisting crises – the emergence of ISIS, a bloody civil war in Syria and Russia’s continued incursion into Ukraine – hadn’t yet erupted when Obama entered office but have strained his efforts to foster global stability.
That choice, Obama implied, was as sharply drawn in the race between Trump and the president’s preferred candidate, Hillary Clinton, as it was in the grinding sectarian war in Syria, the predations of President Vladimir Putin of Russian Federation and the muscle-flexing of China.
For his part, Obama saved his activism for what would otherwise be a less controversial issue: the plight of refugees.
The US leader also warned against the “crude populism” he said was spreading in the US and elsewhere.
“At this moment, we all face a choice”, Obama said.
“There’s a lot of nations right now that are doing the right thing, but many nations – particularly those blessed with wealth and the benefits of geography – that can do more to offer a hand”.
Mr Obama used his eighth and final United Nations address as president to call for a “course correction” to ensure that extremism and violence does not drive countries into a more divided world.
The White House has pledged to allow an additional 85,000 Syrians to resettle in the US during the 2017 fiscal year.
Obama says the world is more secure if leaders are prepared to help people in need, but they have to follow through even when the politics are hard.
“That the end of the Cold War lifted the shadow of nuclear Armageddon.that China and India remain on a path of remarkable growth”, Obama said in his final address to the UN General Assembly here.
In his final address to world leaders at the UN General Assembly in NY, secretary-general Ban Ki-moon appealed to “all those with influence, to end the fighting” in Syria.
The millions of refugees leaving war-torn Syria and other countries wracked by conflict have led to a backlash in some countries, including in the USA, where Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has suggested banning Muslim immigrants.
Reading Obama’s lengthy speech after the fact, I felt his pain in wanting to take credit for the progress he believes he has made as leader of the free world instead of responding to the discouraging news that dominates the headlines.
On Monday, the United Nations suspended all aid to Syria after the government carried out a deadly airstrike on aid trucks in Aleppo.
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“When the British people voted to leave the European Union, they did not vote to turn inwards or walk away from any of our partners in the world”, May said, “because the biggest threats to our prosperity and security do not recognize or respect worldwide borders”.
