 Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and welcome to this press conference from the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos 2016 you're joining the press conference that is trying to answer the question How can we secure access to education for one million refugee children? the topic Has been has been discussed for the last remaining three days here in Davos as well It's very high on the agenda for obvious reasons. We all know about the urgency and I'm very pleased to present an expert panel to discuss that topic further today and trying to answer that question So without further due Let me present the panel to you today To my immediate left. We're joined by Gordon Brown. Who's the UN special envoy for global education? We're joined as well By Anthony Lake the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF based in New York We're joined by Johannes Hahn the commissioner for European neighborhood policy and enlargement negotiations of the European Commission in Brussels by Sarah Brown she's chairing the global business coalition for education and John Sexton the president of New York University And we're all keeping our fingers crossed that we're also being joined by Borger Brande who's the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway Gordon over to you. How can we secure access to education for one million refugee children? Can I say first of all how honored I am to be on the same platform as commissioner Han who's been leading? The European effort to help Syrian refugees and it was visited the region many times to show his support For action and I'm very grateful that he's done so much To be joined also by Tony Lake who in every humanitarian crisis that I've ever seen During the time he's been head of UNICEF has been at the lead And I have a huge admiration for what Tony is doing and continues to do and John Sexton Who's just retired as president of New York University, but is leading a charitable effort to help do more in the region in which? New York University is also active And this is the first time I've appeared at the same press conference as my wife Sarah and she's leading the business coalition You know today the greatest humanitarian crisis since 1945 Demands the boldest of responses and it demands that the broadest coalition of people public private and voluntary sectors Act to do something there are 60 million displaced people around the world 20 million refugees and Syria is today at the epicenter with the fastest growing problem 12 million displaced persons 4 million of them refugees 2 million of them children within a year that will rise to two and a half Million or so and two weeks from now at the London Pledge in conference that organized by the United Nations We have a chance to do something about this and today we are bidding to raise 750 million of additional money to fund 1 million school places that would cater for refugees who are now hold up in Turkey Jordan and Lebanon without hope in many cases of education unless we do act Europe has already with others Combined offer 250 million the World Bank is offering a loan of 200 million at least An announcement is coming today from businesses who are prepared to support this But if we are going to be able to give hope to these young Syrians who are becoming a lost generation unless we act Then we need other donors to come in before February the 4th so that we can honor a promise I want to make to these refugees that in 2017 every one of them would be offered the chance of education In the region in which they are living now What's unlocked our practical ability to do something about this is the introduction of double shift schooling amongst many other innovations In which UNICEF particularly has been involved With double shift schools where you operate the school for Lebanese children in the morning and for Syrian Refugees in the afternoon using the same classrooms. You can cut the cost of education to $500 per child per place 200,000 are already in these schools in Lebanon and now we want to expand that system and other Innovations across Lebanon Jordan and Turkey So that we can cover one million refugee children by the end of the year Working with UNICEF Turkey plans to double its numbers Jordan too will double its numbers and so too can Lebanon if the money is available Now there are very good reasons as will be explained this afternoon why we must act urgently The average time that a refugee spends out of the country is many years on average 10 years And if we do nothing thousands could go through education without ever Being could go through the school age years without ever being in a classroom And I'm pleased at blog of renday the foreign minister of Norway who has done so much has joined us and with us too is the Lebanese education minister and I've just been talking before he arrived about his Herculean efforts to get children into school. We know that rates of child labor are rising child marriage and child trafficking rising We know that without the provision of education many parents see no choice But to leave the region and embark on what have become for many death voyages to Europe But it's also well known that the one offer that we can make that will give young people most hope is the offer of Education that allows them to plan and prepare for the future So here at Davos with the business community and many foundations present We want to be clear There is no solution to the exodus to Europe without an expansion of education in the region There is no solution to the rising number of child marriages and the exploitation of children Forced into illegal labor in the region without the expansion of education There is no solution to the rising discontent amongst refugees hold up in hovels and tents and camps Without the expansion of education and I call on the international community to use these next two weeks to respond To the demand that there is that a million children be awarded the chance of education during the course of this year Thank you very much. Mr. Brown Directly Unicef is at the heart of helping of all these efforts helping children Please share your perspective on the subject with us. How can how can be a secure access to education? Thank you very much and let me begin first of all by thanking Gordon Who is a a true hero and I use the word advisedly of this whole effort to get more kids into schools especially those affected by Conflicts and crises if I could put it just for a second in a global perspective There are 30 million primary and secondary school children Around the world out of school in conflict and crises 30 million That's almost half of the kids out of school and yet less than two percent of dedicated humanitarian spending goes to education So this is a global challenge, but of course it is focused on Syria and the surrounding countries You'll hear lots of numbers First of all to pay tribute to the host countries who have already put so many children into school In Lebanon as Gordon mentioned 200,000 in Turkey 275,000 and yet in both of them we have at least twice that number who we have to get in Preferably by the end of this year You'll hear lots of numbers. There are lots of numbers But those numbers each of the numbers that we have mentioned is an individual child and That child now has already probably lost two or three years of education Which are going to be very hard to recapture That means that the future of that child is in jeopardy but the fundamental fact is that those children are the future of Syria and into a large extent the surrounding countries if we do not get education and Counseling to these kids who have suffered so incredibly much who have seen things that no child Should ever see If they grow up thinking that that is normal if they grow up without the education that they need in order to some day Help Syria recover and if they grow up not just with education in their heads, but healing in their hearts Then we are going to replicate in the next generation The same horrors that we are seeing in Syria and the surrounding countries and now beyond that we are seeing today So the world has a an extraordinary Humanitarian obligation to help these children and it is deeply in the strategic interest of the world to do what Gordon is Calling for and put one million of these kids in school by the end of this year Thank you very much director commission on I can't think of a topic That's higher on the agenda of the European Commission and the European Union than the refugee crisis Please share your perspective from a European from a Commission point of view Thank you very much, but first and foremost, I would like to thank everybody here at the panel and particular Gordon Brown for The rest less and may I say successful activities Order to help indeed those children in need the European Union has Already mobilized together with its member states close to five billion euro since the start of the Syrian crisis and half of it is From the European budget and out of this one billion is a humanitarian budget All together we have mobilized around five hundred million euro for education and this is something we have To further improve I would be happy if we are able to double we are working hard on it It's absolutely necessary in the run-up of the London conference on the 4th of February We're also working on a compact for Jordan Lebanon and on the Turkey facility There are many creative means to cope with this major Refugee situation. It's for instance also to provide jobs and not only to provide shelter and everything which is a kind of Reaction we have to help them to get jobs because it's so important that refugees can stay in the Really proximity in order to move back as soon as this is possible And as it was already said, there's a real risk to lose a whole generation of young Syrians who are being deprived or proper education Opportunities and this will definitely limit their prospects and their perspectives in life. And this is another risk and their targets of Extremism we should be fully aware about this So therefore in any case Education will remain a key focus for the union. We will spare no efforts to bring back to school all Syrian refugee children in the school year 2016 2017 This is our common aim. This is our common goal but Probably the more challenging is to deliver assistance to those inside Syria But their needs are no less important. There are two million out of school children inside Syria Who need our help? Access to education is a complex issue and it is not only a matter of funding Availability as it was already said by Gordon Brown It's also about the protection of children for instance from early marriage We need political will from all concerned including also the host countries to address these issues The London conference is a timely occasion To bleach support, but it's also about assess the medium and long-term needs Ultimately what a Syrian needs and also this should be said in this context is a political solution We need to start thinking of modifying our support to a post conflict scenario. I've understood this was already Discussed today in different settings. It's about the reconstruction of Syria We need to provide incentives to the days refugees so that they can be the architects of Syria's future also This is therefore a very good reason to offer them opportunities to stay in the region in order to return as soon as possible Back and to work on the reconstruction of the country. Thank you Thank you commissioner John. You've been leading one of the most procedures at institutions of higher education How optimistic are you that maybe in 10 years from now or in 15? We'll be seeing Syrian refugee children graduating from New York University. What's your perspective on the issue, please? Well, first, let me let me say how honored I am to be on a panel with four people five people That I admired tremendously I'm really the the minor player in the piece. I'm just a teacher But your your your question is is well taken Think about it for a moment What do parents want for their children? The most central part of the answer to that is education People people care about hope for their children and parents understand that education is is central to hope I Join I think my fellow panelists that have spoken already in saying that Gordon to me is a hero I don't think there's there is a couple in the world that approaches the dedication to this issue That Gordon and Sarah bring to it and I admire them and they've caused me to say I'm going to dedicate a good part of my life to making sure that the answer to your question is Affirmative in fact that we do far better than that The Prime Minister and I will be announcing soon the creation of an entity that will dedicate itself to To this worldwide, but the focus today is on Syria and The Syrian refugees especially those in the three host countries that have been described why because This is not a question in the three host countries any longer of capacity Thanks to the ingenious double ship idea We have the facilities The teachers trained teachers The janitors the security guards are all in the refugee camps as well in other words the capacity is there because Syria had a strong education system before the conflict So all that's needed is is will by those of us that can provide the resources and we can get the 1 million children in The piece that I can add to it that responds directly to your question is a willingness of higher education to take the product that will be produced if only we can get Primary and secondary education to these kids I am the non-executive chair of a university called the University of the people In its normal template the University of the people Provides Immediate access to a free University education a quality university education to all students that are high school graduates Have access to the internet Are fluent in English and our poor And this is not some mass online effort It's it's Individual classes that looks much like the schools that we attended with courses and grades and volunteer teachers and so on And the University of the people Will take that general program into Syria. We've already created what we call the emergency refugee assistance program Which is prepared to take? completely on scholarship 500 students into business administration and computer science we can do this tomorrow and I can also add to that that as the students go through the program. There are universities like NYU Who are prepared to say if at the end of the first year you're in the top 50 students the top 10% of the class We'll take you into our universities and provide you with the scholarship aid to continue in our universities in situ We're also at the University of the people Beginning an initiative designed to create parallel courses to the English courses will offer in Arabic and We we our goal is to take 12,000 12,000 Syrian refugee college students over a 10-year period They'll take some of their courses in English along the way as we try to make them bilingual the fourth year will be completely in in English But they will graduate whether they remain in the host country return to Syria or Relocate elsewhere and in addition to that there are universities like NYU who are prepared to take Qualified Syrian students tomorrow And and if we can find them we will bring them whether it be to NYU Abu Dhabi Or to NYU Shanghai or NYU in New York and we will provide them with the education they deserve Thank You John Sarah you're chairing the global business coalition for education So I'm gonna put you on the spot and ask you we have about 1500 corporate leaders here in Davos for the annual meeting What should their role be what can they do to support these these efforts? Thank you Well, we've certainly heard about the scale of the problem and the urgency of it and the necessity to act We've been working with the global business coalition for education for a while now with a lot of the big established global businesses Who are your members and are here today and this week? But also with some of the newer businesses and the emerging technology companies What I'm very proud to announce here at this press conference is that the GBC education Members have the first 50 companies who have come together to make their commitments To go directly for providing new Opportunities for education for Syrian refugees Wherever they're finding themselves in their new temporary home and that in advance Wait, this is just at the beginning because obviously we're moving on next week to the Syria donor pledging conference next week So we'll be collecting so my message to the other companies that are here is that they can join in with commitments And these aren't just commitments for cash We have 50 million dollars of cash that we've collected so far and that number is growing But there's also an enormous amount of in-kind skills and advisory roles that companies can take Issues around technology content connectivity logistics. These are all really important I'm really pleased that Minister Enes Wasab is here Who's the education minister in Lebanon and I've been out and visited schools with him and seen there and the practical issues That are there on the ground is that the government's there in Lebanon in Turkey in Jordan are opening up the schools as quickly as they can and accommodating Syrian refugees working alongside the children of that country and being able to study there But you see the practical skills that are needed the safe school journey to and from school the opportunity for schools to be connected to Be able to bring in tablet learning Supporting teachers and also to make sure everyone has a decent meal that day too So all of these are challenges that come together and there's a really important role that the private sector can play We've talked a lot now and I've been at meetings here at the World Economic Forum over the years Where we know that there is a critical role for business to play and we know that governments can't do it alone These are some of the things that are said year in year out But I think we're reaching a moment now with the very very strong themes at Davos around protecting the planet and investing in Humanity that really really opens up the opportunity to business to roll up its sleeves get out its checkbook But also use all those other skills that they have from the trained human resources They have amongst their workforce to figure this out and actually get every child into school Thank you very much Sarah Bogey you joined you joined the panel late, but the Norway is usually among the countries moving first on these issues So please share your perspective. What is what is Norway doing to to help us solve this crisis? Thank you and apologies for being late, but alias the Minister of Education of Lebanon and I have a perfect excuse because we were waiting for you Totally different place. So we ran here like crazy from the other side of the conference Center So we were on time, but not at the right place Unfortunately, but again, thank you for to Gordon and Sarah for making this happen As you know, we are extremely committed to Education in general we will double the ODA that we are allocating to Education by 2017 We have initiated the Commission on education Looking at what is the cost of inaction like we did in the health sector? During Dr. Bruntlen's leadership, this is headed by Gordon And we are very very much now focusing also on the London conference where our Prime Minister has taken the leadership Together with Chancellor Merkel Prime Minister Cameron and the emir of Kuwait and we would like this conference to deliver something very substantial on education. There are 2.8 million Syrian children out of school We're talking about a lost generation lost hope For this country, even if we know get if we if we are able under Stefan the minister as leadership To get a peace deal a peace agreement There will be no future for Syria Even with that if there is no education for the children because then we would and will lose out a Generation on a generation this this has to be changed. That's why we need to also see Major stepping up also in the field of education at the London conference our Prime Minister will come with a Substantial major Pledge at the London conference. I'm not authorized to share with you Anything more than this but we are working of course very strategically with Different head of states and head of government snow coming so we will make sure that there will be a Huge step up from Kuwait last time and this is needed and I say When we're in a situation where the UN lacks 50% of the Resources that is needed in the neighboring country In Syria and we know the access challenges in Syria there is only one thing to do it is to step up and We are willing to take this leadership, but also in the field of education. It is unacceptable with 2.8 million Syrian children out of school it is appalling and We cannot leave this as a legacy from our side. It is a political Responsibility to make sure that this is not happening Thank you Thank You both directly. I think you want to react to that Before you go, I just wanted to two small or two not so small points. One is just to thank very much Gordon and the EU Norway the UK the US and others for their support for the no-loss generation initiative Which is a common initiative among all of us which has already reached within Syria With some educational help a million kids and outside Syria over half a million Kids it's a start. We have so much more to do the second thing is there been a number of references to the need for peace and putting an end to this conflict and I wanted to mention that last evening I joined almost 130 other heads of humanitarian agencies in a joint appeal that we're putting out over social media for Both an end of the conflict in support of the talks, but also an appeal for access to besieged and other communities not only with health, but education and other Interventions to call for an end to attacks on schools by all parties And especially to call as I said for an end of the conflict and you will see this Going out over social media. Thank you Thank you very much. Thank you to the panel. We have now time for some questions Let's open the floor if I can see a show of hands and if you could state your name and organization for the sake of our online audience as well Yes, please Larry Elliot of the Guardian does the State of the global financial markets and the fragile state of the global economy generally make it more difficult to Raise the sort of money you need to put these children in school Well, I mean As you can see it's not always easy to raise the money and I will Follow what the Norwegian foreign minister said I think it's important to Convince also our member states and in particular finance ministers What it means to finance The cost of refugees being in Europe More to finance the cost of refugees being in the environment or internal displays And it's also a humanitarian task That we have to help them to stay in the region but I would say This is For the moment the most urgent issue I Personally wouldn't believe that the tough Economic situation is decisive But of course, they're often very narrow national Assessments and therefore I can only urge to act also in this respect as a European Union and To abstain from individual Activities and and initiatives. It's important to contribute but it would be a great mistake to believe that this Problem can be solved by any individual country It's a global problem and it has to address globally and therefore once again grateful for this initiative and whatever we can contribute will do Like I just add a comment the social science data is overwhelming that investment in education leads to Savings over time So anyone that can move beyond the short term thinking that sometimes characterizes our politics all concede Would see that this is a wise investment that will even if judge narrowly on cost Just speaking from the perspective of the business coalition members the money that seems to be coming towards education and Towards investment in Syrian refugees seems to be going up. We're getting pledges coming in from businesses that are rising Not falling. I can't speak for what that will do as against what the markets are doing But I think the investments into CSR more broadly of becoming much more sophisticated and therefore more substantial and I think this falls within that scope Let me just say one thing the Norwegian foreign minister Arrived late, but it's having to leave and I want to acknowledge that Norway is now the global leader in education It is not only set up the education commission It is doubling its education aid and this is to the credit of the prime minister Mrs. Solberg, but also to the credit of the foreign minister Brandy who's led the way so I'm very grateful I also thank the Guardian Larry out of the Guardian the Guardian ran an appeal for refugees at Christmas Syrian refugees at Christmas And to the great credit that they've led the way on this as an as a newspaper But I just say Larry to do nothing Or to do too little to help refugees in their hour of greatest need in probably the greatest Crisis of humanitarian aid that we now face since the Second World War is a recipe for instability for the future So whatever difficulties we have in the financial markets and whatever difficulties individual governments have with their aid budgets I think we've got to recognize that in this this great humanitarian crisis We need to come together because inaction is going to be a recipe for discontent within the region a further exodus of people and greater numbers To Europe and he's going to lead that to discontent of course amongst the young people Themselves, it's very important that we recognize that to do nothing is a recipe for instability in the future Thank you very much directly, please just I've already heard Today from a number of meetings of business leaders government and others Who are saying and this is just common sense who are saying that not only the growth in economies Over the next generation But also politicals and other forms of stability as Gordon was saying over the next generation depend on an expanding middle class and by definition you cannot do that but without one education and To especially focusing in education on the most disadvantaged so that you're expanding it and who is more disadvantaged than the refugee children Who are being denied access to education now So this is deeply in the strategic interest not only of governments, but of businesses as well I think we should be aware Investment in education everywhere in the world generates the highest interest rates. This also at the address of economic people Thank you very much Are there any further questions because if not mindful of the far advanced time and the full schedule of our panelists? I would close the panel here. Thank you very much for joining and a special. Thank you to all of our panelists here today Thank you