U.N. humanitarian officials, high-level government envoys and advocacy group leaders on Monday opened a one-day conference aimed at drumming up funds to help ethnic Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, as the influx from Myanmar has topped 600,000 since late August.

The Geneva meeting hosted by the European Union, the government of Kuwait and the United Nations’ migration, refugee and humanitarian aid coordinating agencies aims to help meet a U.N. call for $434 million in funding through February.

Mark Lowcock, head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, lamented the “humanitarian and human rights nightmare” faced by the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. He said the main focus of the event was “mobilizing resources to save lives and protect people.”

Over half of those who have fled are children.