EU signs €15 million grant to support Syrian refugees and vulnerable Jordanians access to higher education
Amman, May 7 2020 – On Thursday, Her Excellency Ms. Maria Hadjitheodosiou, EU Ambassador to Jordan, and Prof. Manar Fayyad, President of the German Jordanian University, signed a bilateral grant agreement for EUR 15 million to support 2245 vulnerable Jordanians and Syrian refugees with fully funded scholarships to higher education.
The EU-funded project “Support to Higher Education for Syrian Refugees and Vulnerable Jordanian Youths-EDU-SYRIA III” will give young students the opportunity to pursue higher education (bachelor and master levels), vocational education, technical training, preparing teachers , special entrepreneurial training, labour market oriented courses as well as summer programs for high school students. The project will extend for a period of four years with the aim to increase the capacity of Jordan’s higher education institutions as well as foster socialcohesion and dialogue between Syrian refugees and Jordanian host communities. The EDU-SYRIA scholarship programme, supported by the EU MADAD Fund and implemented by the German Jordan University led consortium, has awarded over 3500 scholarships so far.
Reiterating the EU’s commitment to continue supporting Jordanian efforts to deal with the impact of Syrian refugees in the country, Amb. Hadjitheodosiou added that “This grant will give both Syrian refugees and disadvantaged youth in Jordan the opportunity to pursue an education which will enhance their opportunities for securing jobs and stable livelihoods. We hope that this project will enable these wonderfully talented and well-educated youth to have the opportunity to deliver on Jordan’s high potential and contribute to a bright future for all.”
Prof. Fayyad said that she is very proud to be part of one of the most successful examples of collaborations between international organizations and communities to serve a very nobel cause. For her, this opportunity provides both young Syrian refugees and underprivileged young people from Jordan a better access to higher education and enables them to make a great difference in their future.
The EDU-SYRIA III project is a consortium of 9 local and international partners: The German Jordanian University (consortium leader), DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service), Nuffic (The Dutch Organisation for Internationalisation in Education), Queen Rania Teacher Academy, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Yarmouk University, Mutah University, Zarqa University and Luminus Technical University College. The project also cooperates with Jordanian aid funds: National Aid Fund, Tkiyet Um Ali, Al-Aman Fund, and Zakat Fund.
About the EU Regional Trust Fund in response to the Syrian crisis, the EU ‘Madad’ Fund:
Since its establishment in December 2014, an increasing share of the EU’s non-humanitarian aid for Syria’s neighbouring countries is provided through the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis, the EU ‘Madad’ Fund. The Trust Fund brings a more coherent and integrated EU aid response to the crisis and primarily addresses longer term economic, educational, protection and social needs of Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries such as Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq, and supports overstretched host communities and their administrations. Today, the EU Regional Trust Fund is also one of the key instruments through which the new EU partnership priorities with Jordan are implemented.
