More than 70,000 signatures had been gathered by January 28 on a petition launched by Pakistani Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai that urges a Syria donors’ conference to give millions of dollars to educational purposes.
The online petition is addressed to U.S. President Barack Obama.
It calls for world leaders to commit to $1.4 billion at the London conference on February 4 in order to “make sure all Syrian children affected by the conflict get an education.”
Britain, Germany, and Norway are co-hosting the conference along with the United Nations and Kuwait.
They will discuss how to help 13.5 million people who are vulnerable or have been displaced inside Syria, as well as 4.2 million people who have fled to neighboring countries like Jordan and Lebanon.
British Prime Minister David Cameron’s office says participating countries will be asked to double the amount of money they are contributing to alleviate the humanitarian crisis.
In 2015, UN agencies asked for $8.4 billion from governments around the world but received only $3.3 billion.
