In one year, the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) programme for refugees in Turkey, the largest ever humanitarian aid operation funded by the EU, has achieved its objective of reaching one million refugees, Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Christos Stylianides announced on Tuesday 17 October during a visit to Turkey.
The programme, funded by the EU Facility for Refugees in Turkey (which has a budget of €3 billion for 2016-2017), is affected as part of a contract between the European Commission and the World Food Programme. Launched in September 2016, it was, by the first quarter of 2017, to help one million refugees meet their everyday needs – in housing, food and education of children – by means of monthly money transfers (€30 per person per month) on to special debit cards that allow goods to be bought on the local market and money to be withdrawn (see EUROPE 11619). One million refugees have benefitted from the programme.
Could it be replicated in Bangladesh? Commissioner Stylianides said that “this innovative programme for the most vulnerable refugees allows the recipients to determine how best to address their needs”. Proud of the success, he said it was “a model for similar humanitarian crises” and suggested it might be good to replicate it in Bangladesh.
Some 85% of the aid goes directly to recipients, with the remaining 15% being used for administrative costs, the commissioner said. Highlighting that there are 3.4 million refugees in Turkey, Stylianides thanked the Turkish government and, in particular, the minister of the interior and the minister of family and social policy, as well as the World Food Programme and the Turkish Red Crescent for their key role in implementing the ESSN. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)