Malala urges support for Syria children

Malala Yousafzai has called on international donors to commit funding to education to empower children to rebuild Syria.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan speaks during the first focus event on education at the 'Supporting Syria and the Region' conference Source: AAP

Pakistani-born education activist Malala Yousafzai, joint winner of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, has urged international donors to "empower children to rebuild Syria" by committing $US1.4 billion ($A1.95 billion) for education.

"We must make a promise to this generation: to empower them with education to rebuild Syria and bring peace," said 18-year-old Yousafzai, who shares her Nobel prize with Indian children's rights activist Kailash Satyarthi.

"Many have started calling Syrian children a generation lost. But it is wrong," she told a UN co-hosted conference in London on financial support for Syria.

"These children will only be lost if you choose to give up on them.

She said $US1.4 billion for Syria's children was a number the world could afford.

"Losing this generation is a cost the world cannot."