Does all this talking change anything?
If you cannot hear me when I am in the conference room, how will you hear the voices of millions of refugee children who need your help?
I have just returned from New York where I spoke at the UN and other venues — trying to get across the message that millions of refugees worldwide are missing out on education, especially girls.
It was an amazing experience to meet all the leaders who were in New York for UN week, but I also asked myself: how much is all this talking really changing things on the ground?
I raised this directly at a meeting on Syria’s refugee crisis. Ahead of the meeting we were expecting a progress report on promises made to get education to more than 700,000 Syrian refugee children in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey who are out of school.
First, there was no report, which was disappointing.
Second, I found it impossible to understand how much money has been promised, what had been paid, and what has been achieved on the ground. It seemed that donors could not even agree on what they had promised or paid.
So I stood up and reminded the ministers and ambassadors that I was speaking up for millions of children who are not numbers but real people with hopes and dreams for a better future.
I asked them: “Please tell me, what do I tell my friends in the camps? What can I say has been achieved? What is the point of all this talking? If you are not listening to me and I am here at the conference, how are you ever going to hear the voices of millions of refugee children who need your help?”
When Malala and I spoke in London in February at the first Supporting Syria conference, world leaders promised to increase aid for Syrian refugees so all the school-age refugee children in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan would have access to education by the end of this school year.
What I heard in the meeting in NY last week was very disappointing. Very little has changed for my sisters and brothers on the ground. I cannot see how they will all be in school by the end of this year.
Sometimes I think leaders just make promises when the world is watching.
I want them to know that Malala and I will keep watching — and so will Malala Fund supporters around the world.
We have to make sure that when politicians and diplomats make promises, that they do not forget them when they leave the room.
Education is so important for refugee children but until now it has not been given enough attention.
When I was living in refugee camps in Jordan, going to school gave me hope and purpose. It was just as important to me as food or shelter. When you are a refugee, there is very little you can carry. One of the few things we can take with us is what we have learned.
As I said in New York, one day I want to return to my country, and to rebuild Syria, but I want to rebuild it with books and pens, not bullets and bombs.
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