‘Our goal is to harness the private sector for public good, ‘ Soros said.
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Speaking at a US-led refugee summit at the UN, Obama praised Germany and Canada among other countries for opening up their doors to those fleeing the war in Syria and other conflicts.
The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, while congratulating member states for adopting the declaration, said: “Today’s summit represents a breakthrough in our collective efforts to address the challenges of human mobility”. The U.S. will begin to accept the 110,000 new refugees in fiscal year 2017, which starts on October 1.
“In the eyes of innocent men and women and children who through no fault of their own have had to flee everything that they know, everything that they love, we have to have the empathy to see ourselves”, Obama said in his address to world leaders.
There were a string of meetings, agreements and promises to support refugees and migrants during the United Nations General Assembly in NY this week.
“Refugees need access to financial and legal services, education, and employment opportunities; we believe the private sector is uniquely placed to help build the infrastructure needed to support these services”, the U.N.’s High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said of the Soros investment.
The announcement comes at a time when 65.3 million people have been forcibly displaced from their home countries, with at least 21.4 million people registered as refugees with the United Nations refugee agency.
“The overall climate is not very favorable to receiving refugees in many parts of the world but on the one hand, states committed to this so we can remind them of their obligations”.
“Newton Supply Company, a small business in Texas that makes handbags, is going to make 90 percent of their bags with local refugees”, Obama said. Among them are almost 21.3 million refugees, over half of whom are under the age of 18.
Among the list of company pledges is an Airbnb scheme to allow hosts to temporarily accommodate refugees, Facebook’s promise to provide Wi-Fi to 35 locations in Greece, and LinkedIn’s plan to expand its Welcome Talent initiative – which helps new arrivals in Sweden to find jobs – to other countries.
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Countries participating in a special refugee summit Obama was hosting are announcing individual pledges in line with a US goal of increasing humanitarian aid by $3 billion, doubling resettlement and providing access to jobs and education.
