Brussels, 06/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - On 23 December, the European Commission announced the mobilisation of a further €30 million to provide emergency financial assistance to the people affected by the conflict in Syria and for Syrian refugees and host communities in Jordan and Lebanon.
A total of €16 million will go to UNRWA to provide urgent assistance to Palestinian refugees from Syria and to help meet the increased costs associated with the ten-fold increase in the number of Palestinian refugees now facing extreme poverty.
The remaining €14 million will support host communities in Jordan and Lebanon. It will help improve basic services such as water and sanitation, and help UNICEF protect refugee children and promote access to learning for about 400,000 refugee children of school age.
On 18 December, the Commission signed contracts with the United Nations agencies totalling €147 million to help the people affected by the Syrian crisis (€63 million in humanitarian aid to nearly 3 million people, via the High Commission for Refugees, €61 million in food aid through the World Food Programme for over 6 million people, and €23 million via Unicef to provide water and sanitation services to 4 million people). (CG/transl.fl)