(MENAFN- Jordan News Agency) Amman, Nov.12 (Petra) ---Planning and International Cooperation Minister Imad Fakhoury and Member of the Executive Council of the German Development Bank (K f W) Joachim Nagel on Sunday signed an additional grant agreement worth 10 million euros to finance the School Construction Programme Phase II under the Jordan Response Plan (JRP).
The grant, which is part of 2016's commitments, aims to finance the 2nd phase of the School Construction Plan to build new public schools, and expand and provide furniture and equipment to existing ones at Syrian refugees host communities, with the 1st phase was signed on July, 31, 2017 with value of 19 million euros.
The project comes as part of the commitments made during the London Conference on supporting Syria and the region held in 2016.
During the signing ceremony,which was attended by German Ambassador Birgitta Siefker, Secretary General of Education Ministry Sami Salaita and Director of KfW Office in Jordan Christian Schaub, Fakhoury said that this program is among the priorities of the Jordan Response Plan to the Syrian crisis.
"It will contribute to implementing the Education Ministry's plan on addressing the impacts of the Syrian crisis on education in the Kingdom and improving the quality of education provided to the Syrian and reducing overcrowding at schools, the minister added ." The minister added the German support provided to the Jordanian education sector through KfW for the years 2016-2017 amounted to 100 million euros, including a 14-million euros new grant to finance t 3rd phase in 2018.
KfW is among the major partners of Jordan in supporting the priority development projects, especially education, water and sanitation, according to the minister.
Fakhoury expressed his country's appreciation for the German government's continuous support as a strategic partnership for Jordan in its development endeavors. He also thanked Germany for recently announcing additional aid for Jordan that amounted to 275.17 million euros as grants, technical support and concessional loans. The minister called on Germany to increase the support provided to the Kingdom through maximizing the beneficiation of the development cooperation program of the current year and focusing on the economic opportunities and employment, in addition to supporting the implementation of the JRP, which is being updated, and through the concessional financing mechanism administered by the World Bank to reduce the cost of development loans, in light of the pivotal role, under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah II, in enhancing the regional and international security and peace, combating extremism and terror, and inter-faith dialogue. For his part, Nagel stressed the continuation of German support to the Kingdom is a priority of the German Government and KfW.
The manager also stressed the importance of maintaining the momentum of support provided to the Syrian refugees host communities, expressing appreciation over Jordan's pivotal role in hosting the refugees.
The Minister also briefed the German official on the national development plans such as the Executive Development Plan and the JRP.
He also stressed that Jordan is committed to its ambitious reform programs according to the Jordan 2025 and the Executive Development Program for the years 2016-2019.
It is worth mentioning that the Germany is the 2nd largest donor country for Jordan with financial support that amounted to around 577 million euros in 2017, including humanitarian aid to refugees and the host communities.
12/11/2017 - 01:50:01 PM
MENAFN1211201701170000ID1096075822
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.