The EU Regional Trust Fund in response to the Syrian crisis, the ‘Madad’ Trust Fund, has made an important step towards the “No Lost Generation” initiative by committing EUR 11 million to the programme ‘Vocational Education and Training & Higher Programme for Vulnerable Syrian Youth’ which also aims to support underprivileged Jordanians.

In support of this programme, the EU has signed a contract with the German Jordanian University (GJU). The programme will provide scholarship opportunities to Syrian refugees and vulnerable Jordanian students from host communities in Jordan for higher education and vocational studies, with the objective to offer higher educational programmes in cooperation with Jordanian higher educational institutions.

“The EU is delivering on its promises to Jordan in the light of the ‘No Lost Generation’ initiative by providing higher education and vocational training to thousands of underprivileged Jordanians and Syrian refugees,” said EU Ambassador to Jordan Andrea Matteo Fontana

The programme provides vocational, bachelor and master degrees on a wide variety of subjects to 300 underprivileged Jordanian and 700 Syrian students.

The ‘Vocational Education and Training & Higher Program for vulnerable Syrian youth’ follows on from an earlier grant of EUR 4 million, launched in December 2015, which provided 390 higher education scholarship mainly for students whose  undergraduate education was interrupted by the Syrian conflict as well as vulnerable Jordanians.

Today the ‘Madad’ Trust Fund is one of the key financial instruments that support the implementation of the new EU ‘Compact’ with Jordan. With contributions and pledges from 22 Member States, amounting to EUR 92.60 million, and from various EU instruments, the ‘Madad’ Trust Fund has reached a total volume of close to EUR 1 billion to date. Projects focusing on education, livelihoods and health have already been approved, covering a total of EUR 767 million. EUR 388 million have been contracted to the Trust Fund’s implementing partners on the ground and EUR 49.3 million have been allocated for higher education in the region.

Read more

Press release

The EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis

Syria: Council response to the crisis

EEAS – The EU and the crisis in Syria

European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection – Syrian crisis factsheet  

EU Support to Jordan