Yesterday, the European Union renewed its commitment to supporting the work carried out by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), with a €12.6 million contribution targeting Palestinian refugees from Syria in Jordan.

It comes as part of a larger €43.2 million contribution to the Agency’s emergency operations aimed at “Strengthening the Resilience of Palestinian Refugees in Jordan and Lebanon”, in 2020 through 2021, and tailored also to support Palestinian refugees coping with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The EU increased the initial allocation for 2020-21 with additional €7.2 million in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

This new funding, from the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian crisis (the EU MADAD Fund), will enable UNRWA Jordan field emergency operations to provide continued services to some 17,500 Palestinian refugees from Syria in Jordan. It includes regular unconditional cash assistance for families to cover their essential food and non-food item needs, as well as conditional emergency cash support to Palestinian refugees from Syria for unforeseen emergencies, enabling them to cope with their difficult economic situation in a safe way.

The EU and UNRWA will provide additional cash assistance to all Palestinian refugees from Syria in Jordan, impacted by the socio-economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to cash assistance, Palestinian refugees from Syria will benefit from increased protection standards and activities sustained under this EU contribution; these services will particularly address legal documentation issues, gender-based violence and child-specific vulnerabilities, among others.

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Press release

EU Delegation to Jordan – website and Facebook page

EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian crisis