Clooney Foundation to open schools for Syrian refugees

NEW YORK (AP) - George Clooney's foundation is planning to open seven public schools for Syrian refugee children.

The Clooney Foundation for Justice announced a new partnership Monday with Google, HP and UNICEF to provide education for more than 3,000 refugee children in Lebanon.

George and Amal Clooney said in a statement Monday that the foundation's commitment of more than $2 million toward education for Syrian refugees aims to prevent thousands of young people from becoming "a lost generation."

"They have been victims of geography and circumstance, but that doesn't mean there isn't hope," the couple wrote in a statement provided to The Associated Press. "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."

A UNICEF spokesman described the couple's support as "investing the future of the entire region."

George and Amal Clooney established the Clooney Foundation for Justice last year to support equity in courtrooms, classrooms and communities around the world.