Kingdom to channel EU grant into priority fields of health, women’s empowerment, education — Rabadi

AMMAN — A new aid package of 60.5 million euros granted by The EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis, the Madad Fund, will be used to implement three high-priority projects in Jordan, Planning and International Cooperation Minister Wissam Rabadi said on Wednesday.

According to a ministry statement to The Jordan Times, the package was granted to support the government’s efforts in dealing with the ongoing repercussions of hosting Syrian refugees and supporting local communities and the Treasury.

The first bundle of 22 million euros will finance a project for supporting and administrating the Kingdom’s health services to prevent non-communicable diseases, which aims at improving the Health Ministry’s services to Jordanians and Syrian refugees, Rabadi said.

The minister noted that the second bundle of 11 million euros will be allocated for supporting the “women’s economic empowerment in Jordan” project, which targets Syrian and Jordanian women in host communities and seeks to increase their access to jobs and support the development of small businesses.

The remaining 27.5 million euros will be offered through the general budget to support the government’s efforts to improve the quality of education for the 2021-2022 scholastic year, with a focus on the elementary stage, he said.

Last week, Rabadi, during a visit to Zaatari camp for Syrian refugees along with UNHCR Representative to Jordan Dominik Bartsch, called on the international community to help the Kingdom continue offering basic services to Syrian refugees, mainly in health and education, the costs of which have increased after the international outbreak of the coronavirus.