Cincinnati, Ohio‐‐On February 3‐4 2016, Dr. Khaula Sawah CEO of UOSSM USA attended the “Supporting Syria and the Region 2016” conference in London, England. The conference was co‐hosted by the UK, Germany, Kuwait, Norway, and the United Nations.
The main objective of the conference was to raise enough money to help suffering Syrians inside Syria and abroad by providing immediate and long term relief. In addition to finding a solution to the targeting and attacks on medical facilities, and schools, and violence against all types of humanitarian workers. The conference raised over US$11 billion in pledges; $5.8 billion for 2016 and $5.4 billion for 2017‐20.
UOSSM was one of the few Syrian medical NGOs that attended this invitation only event. Among the many distinguished guests of the conference were dignitaries, prime ministers and princes including John Kerry, Malala Yousafzai, David Cameron and UN Secretary General Ban Ki‐moon. Dr. Sawah said, ”It was a very intense conference and UOSSM is proud to be among the dignitaries and one of the few Syrian NGOs that were invited to this event.”
The funding will be designated to provide immediate health care, water, food and education along with other necessities needed to help the Syrian people.
Dr. Samah Basses, SRN‐Syrian Relief Network humanitarian aid representative from Turkey said in her speech, “The deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Syria is overwhelming, there are so many needs to highlight. Should I talk about the suffering of more than 400,000 Syrians in besieged areas where hunger is used as a weapon, or about the 6.5 million displaced more than once as they cannot find a safe place anymore? Should I highlight the hospitals that are being attacked by airstrikes at least once every three days, or the 650 health providers who lost their lives serving others? How can I reflect our frustration as health professionals, seeing hospitals going out of service and health workers fleeing Syria because the situation became unbearable?”
Meanwhile Malala Yousafzai stressed the importance of an education for all Syrian children regardless of race, gender or any socio political factor, and that there will be, “no lost generation of Syrian children,” due to the Syrian crisis.
