This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost Australia, which closed in 2021.

Clooney Foundation To Sponsor 7 Schools For Syrian Refugees

Clooney Foundation To Sponsor 7 Schools For Syrian Refugees
George Clooney and Amal Clooney's foundation plans to help nearly 3,000 refugee children who are currently not enrolled in school, and provide them with necessary transportation and school supplies.
Stephane Cardinale - Corbis via Getty Images
George Clooney and Amal Clooney's foundation plans to help nearly 3,000 refugee children who are currently not enrolled in school, and provide them with necessary transportation and school supplies.
George Clooney and Amal Clooney's foundation plans to help nearly 3,000 refugee children who are currently not enrolled in school, and provide them with necessary transportation and school supplies.
Stephane Cardinale - Corbis via Getty Images
George Clooney and Amal Clooney's foundation plans to help nearly 3,000 refugee children who are currently not enrolled in school, and provide them with necessary transportation and school supplies.

The Clooney Foundation for Justice announced plans this week to open seven schools in Lebanon for Syrian refugees.

The foundation of international human rights lawyer Amal Clooney and her movie star husband, George Clooney, says it will help nearly 3,000 refugee children who are currently not enrolled in school, and provide them with necessary transportation and school supplies.

Lebanon, the birthplace of Amal Clooney, has the world’s highest population of refugees per capita. There are more than 1 million Syrian refugees registered living in Lebanon, and about 200,000 of the refugee population are children who are not enrolled in school.

“Without education, this lost generation becomes not only a missed opportunity for the advancement of Lebanon but also a huge security threat in the region and beyond,” states the Clooney Foundation for Justice on its website, in reference to the goals of the project, titled “Empowering a Generation.”

By partnering with UNICEF and obtaining funding from companies including HP Inc. and Google, the Clooneys’ foundation will work with seven existing public schools in Lebanon. Its program will enable the schools to provide formal education in the afternoons to Syrian refugee children who are currently not getting an education.

“They have been victims of geography and circumstance, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t hope,” George and Amal Clooney said in a statement to The Associated Press this week. “Our goal with this initiative is to help provide Syrian refugee children with an education and put them on a path to be the future leaders their generation desperately needs.”

UNICEF announced Monday that the foundation secured a $2.25 million partnership, which included a notable donation from Google, as well as a $1 million technology grant from HP.

The Clooneys met with Syrian refugees in the German capital of Berlin in March 2016, marking five years of the war in Syria.

“We always look around at the end of these tragedies and say if we knew, we would have done something,” George Clooney said in a video released at the time. “And the reality is, of course we know.”

Close
This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost Australia. Certain site features have been disabled. If you have questions or concerns, please check our FAQ or contact support@huffpost.com.