4 February 2016, 14:56 GMT
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States is asking at least 10 more countries to pledge more assistance and open their doors to Syrian refugees, US Secretary of State John Kerry said during a speech in London on Thursday.
“We urge at least 10 countries to make pledges that have never made pledges before,” Kerry said. “We urge 10 nations to open their doors to refugee admissions that have not done so in the past.”
Kerry said that Washington would continue to press the international community to increase its response to humanitarian funding appeals for refugees by at least 30 percent.
The US secretary of state also urged multilateral development banks to do more to assist countries in the region including Jordan and Lebanon and offer them concessional finance for programs helping communities and supporting job creation.
Kerry’s announcement come after the State Department has pledged on Thursday more than $600 million in humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees that will help countries such as Lebanon and Jordan as well as Iraq, Egypt and Turkey.
