Brussels, 10/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 10 September, the European Commission announced a €235.7 million package to help socio-economic development and support better living conditions in its southern neighbourhood partner countries. This assistance is provided through the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI).
From the €235.7 million, €162 million will enable bilateral cooperation to be supported with Egypt, Lebanon and Palestine. Egypt will thus benefit from €59 million for programmes in human rights, development of the private sector, urban development, energy and water. An amount of €15 million will be earmarked for Lebanon with the aim of helping economic development and increased economic opportunities, and for supporting the creation of better living conditions for vulnerable groups. In addition, €88 million for Palestine is expected to help immediate relief and to procure long term benefits for the Palestinians living in very difficult conditions, according to the Commission. It will also provide financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority.
The goal of the remaining €73.7 is to improve cooperation on the regional level, to help address the regional challenges that require a common approach, such as migration, job creation and socio-economic inclusion, as well as continuing the integration of civil society in the political dialogue, the Commission states.
Elsewhere, on Wednesday 9 September during his State of the Union address, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker announced the launch of two new projects for the education and food security of over 240,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey. The cost of these projects is €17.5 million (€12 million for the education part and €5 million for food vouchers) financed through the EU regional trust fund. The aid for education is expected to benefit over 200,000 children and the food aid should involve 41,000 Syrians. These programmes are carried out in cooperation with Unicef and the World Food Programme. (Camille-Cerise Gessant)