Jordan requests $2.4 billion for Syrian refugees aid
Amman, Feb 24 (efe-epa).- The Jordanian government on Wednesday asked European ambassadors to the Arab country for $2.4 billion in funding to provide aid to nearly 1.3 million Syrian refugees living in the kingdom.
Jordanian Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Nasser al-Shraydeh requested the support for the Jordan Response Plan during a meeting with ambassadors of the European countries.
“The minister asked the support of the European countries to the 2021 JRP with an estimated value of 2.4 billion dollars at the Brussels conference due to be held at the end of March,” the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation said in a statement.
Jordan says it hosts around 1.3 million Syrian, while United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that 650,000 Syrian refugees have fled to the kingdom since March 2011, when the civil war erupted.
Al-Shraydeh also appealed to the international community to agree on “effective mechanisms for financing the plan in a manner that ensures extending suitable services to the refugees and the hosting communities,” the statement added.
In addition to meeting the challenges imposed by the coronavirus, the plan covers the sectors of education, health, housing, social protection, sanitation services and economic empowerment of this vulnerable community.
Since the pandemic broke out in March 2020, the Jordanian government has ensured Syrian refugees’ access to healthcare, including coronavirus vaccination, a move that has been praised by international organizations.
The Jordanian government last week set up what United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees considered to be the first Covid-19 vaccination center at a refugee camp in the world. It is located at the Zaatari camp for displaced Syrians, 85 kilometers northeast of Amman. EFE-EPA
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