Schools and water: Swiss emergency aid is implemented in Jordan
Bern, 19.10.2015 - On the first day of his two-day stay in Jordan, Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter visited on Monday a school in a deprived suburb of Amman and the Azraq refugee camp, where Switzerland has been supporting a project aimed at ensuring the efficient supply of water to the some 24,000 Syrian refugees there. Mr Burkhalter, who is head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), thanked Jordan for its efforts in taking in more than 600,000 refugees fleeing Syria to date.
Didier Burkhalter stated that Switzerland wished to join them in their efforts and signed a letter of intent with UNICEF to this end. The United Nations Children's Fund is leading the activities to improve sanitary conditions in the camp, in particular by constructing a system to distribute drinking water. Without such improvements, refugees leave the camps after a certain period of time in search of better conditions – notably in Europe.
Mr Burkhalter stated that the Swiss government had become aware that aid was critical and that it had recently released a further CHF 70 million in humanitarian aid to be provided to the whole region affected by the Syrian crisis – in addition to the CHF 200 million already committed – for projects connected with the crisis in Syria and Iraq, the Horn of Africa and projects providing assistance on transit routes in the Mediterranean region.
Mr Burkhalter's visit to a school in a deprived suburb of Amman highlighted the importance placed by the Federal Council on youth and on the protection of the most vulnerable. The school's classrooms and sanitary facilities were renovated as part of a Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) project co-financed by Switzerland. This has allowed the number of pupils attending the school to increase from 800 to 1,200 and is helping to give the younger generation prospects for the future.
Schooling in Jordan is an ongoing challenge, with the country already hosting a large number of Palestinian refugees. There are now an additional 220,000 school-age Syrians, only 120,000 of whom have been admitted into a state school.
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