©Oestergaard: Mogens Lykketoft visited a school at Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan
“When I grow up, I want to be a doctor or a pilot.” – at a school run by UNICEF at Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan the children don’t give up on dreaming of their future even though most of them have called the camp near the Syrian border home for several years.
During his visit to Jordan on Wednesday, the President of the UN General Assembly Mr. Mogens Lykketoft, visited the camp, which opened its gates in July 2012 and initially accommodated only 100 families. But after an exponential growth in recent years, it is now home to 79.000 inhabitants, all living within its five-mile radius.
With the help of UN agencies and programmes, private donors, NGOs and the Jordanian Government, the Zaatari Camp has grown to become the fourth biggest “city” in Jordan. The camp’s infrastructure features health clinics, schools and training opportunities for the Syrian refugees such as sewing workshops and computer courses.
The President’s visit to the Zaatari Camp tells a clear story of the urgent need for the international community to find new and better ways to sustain both emergent and long term financing for the 125 million people in need. A topic the President addressed at last Sunday’s launch of the report on humanitarian financing in Abu Dhabi.
Jordan alone has received more than 1.4 million refugees from Syria and more than half of Syria’s 22 million population has been displaced by fighting.
After his visit to the camp, the President met Jordan’s King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein. They discussed the war in Syria and the current humanitarian situation.