Turkey to host ground-breaking World Humanitarian Summit
16:51, 20/05/2016, Friday
Yeni Şafak
Turkish Presidentwill unveil his country's efforts to help people in conflict zones
Turkey will host a landmark World Humanitarian Summit, centered on work to set a new agenda for global humanitarian action. The event to be held on May 23-24 in Istanbul is the first such summit of its kind.
The high-profile summit will see more than 5,000 participants, including statesmen, business leaders, NGOs, international agencies, and representatives of communities affected by refugee crises.
The event, inaugurated by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,is expected to draw 23 presidents, 23 prime ministers and more than 50 ministers to Istanbul.
Erdoğan will share his country's experiences in emergency crisis and handling humanitarian aid at the summit.
Turkey, as one of the world's leading humanitarian donors, is hosting almost 3 million refuges fleeing conflict zone regions , including nearly 3 million Syrian refugees, according to official statistics. From 2002 to 2014, Turkey's total humanitarian aid increased 47 percent to $6.4 billion, a 42-fold increase.
The official disaster relief agency,AFAD, coordinates all services for Syrians sheltering in Turkey. In addition to humanitarian aid, AFAD provides education, health care, and social services at 26 centers for Syrians.
The agency data show that the total number of refugees who found shelter in camps is nearly 282,000, including 272,000 Syrians.
Nearly 152,000 Syrian refugee babies were born in Turkey. Additionally, nearly 79,000 students study in 1,211 classes in the refugee camps.