BRUSSELS, May 29 (KUNA) -- The new EU regional Trust Fund in response to the Syrian crisis held its first board meeting here Friday and adopted European response programmes for EUR 40 million.
This will provide aid to 400,000 Syrian refugees and host communities in need in Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Iraq, focusing on education, livelihoods and food security targeting especially children and young people, said the EU's executive body in a statement.
The Fund will provide EUR 17.5 million to more than 200,000 Syrian refugee children in Turkey with additional second-shift Arabic teaching, life skills education, educational materials and supplies, as well as psychosocial support.
EU High Representative Federica Mogherini, commented that "this Trust Fund is another illustration of the EU's commitment to help the victims of this crisis of unprecedented magnitude in Syria and the neighbouring countries." On his part, EU Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, stated that the Fund is "a new and innovative way of pooling our resources into one single and flexible mechanism with high European visibility responding together to this unprecedented crisis in our southern neighbourhood". (end) nk.hb