Brussels, 28/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 28 July, the European Commission (see EUROPE 11584, 11601) adopted the Special Measure worth over €1.4 billion to support refugees who have fled from the war in Syria and to assist their host communities in Turkey. With the adoption of this special measure, the total allocated under the Facility for Refugees in Turkey has reached €2.155 billion in humanitarian and non-humanitarian aid.
The new measure is worth €1.415 billion and focuses on the areas of education, health, municipal and social infrastructure, and socio-economic support in the ten most affected provinces. The special measure adopted includes three areas of funding to respond to refugees' urgent needs and those of the host communities. No exact amount has been given for each specific funding area.
The first strand provides for direct grants with the Turkish ministries for education and health to cover operational costs of and access to education and healthcare services for Syrian refugees and their children. The second strand provides EU financial support for education and health-related infrastructure. It also provides for funding for municipal infrastructure in host communities and socio-economic support for Syrian refugees in Turkey. This second strand will be implemented through delegation agreements with international financial institutions. The third and last strand of the measure includes an allocation to top-up the EU Regional Trust Fund in response to the Syrian crisis, allowing it to continue funding bottom-up assistance to refugees and host communities. The measure also includes an allocation to allow international financial institutions to build a project pipeline for potential future projects under the facility for refugees in Turkey.
In addition, a further €79 million of previously allocated funds for humanitarian aid projects have been contracted to a number of partners, including UN agencies, international organisations and international NGOs. Therefore, with this €79 million, €229 million has already been contracted with €105 million of this sum having already been disbursed, out of the total €2.155 billion committed under the facility. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)