U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on all countries on Wednesday to show solidarity and accept nearly half a million Syrian refugees for resettlement over the next three years.

Ban, kicking off a ministerial conference hosted by the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR in Geneva, said: "This demands an exponential increase in global solidarity."

The United Nations is aiming to re-settle some 480,000 refugees, about 10 percent of those now in neighboring countries, by the end of 2018, but has conceded it needs to overcome widespread fear and political manipulation.

Ban urged countries to pledge new and additional pathways for admitting Syrian refugees, adding: "These pathways can include resettlement or humanitarian admission, family reunions, as well as labor or study opportunities."

Filippo Grandi, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said the refugees were facing increasing obstacles to find safety.

"We must find a way to manage this crisis in a more humane, equitable and organized manner. It is only possible if the international community is united and in agreement on how to move forward," Grandi said.

Grandi said: "If Europe were to welcome the same percentage of refugees as Lebanon in comparison to its population, it would have to take in 100 million refugees."

Ban, referring to U.N.-led efforts to end the war, said:

"We have a cessation of hostilities, by and large holding for over a month, but the parties must consolidate and expand it into a ceasefire, and ultimately to a political solution through dialogue."

PHOTO CAPTION

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addresses the meeting on global responsibility sharing through pathways for admission of Syrian refugees, at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, March 30, 2016.

Reuters