EU Extends Humanitarian Support for Refugees in Turkey

The European Commission has extended two humanitarian flagship programs in Turkey until early 2022. These programs help over 1.8 million refugees meet their basic needs and will help over 700,000 children to continue their education.

The programs that were extended until early 2022 are The Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN), which is providing over 1.8 million refugees with monthly cash assistance to meet their basic needs; and Conditional Cash Transfers for Education (CCTE), the largest EU-funded humanitarian education program, providing support to families whose children attend school regularly. It helps over 620,000 refugee children continue their education and will support 700,000 in 2021.

Turkey hosts close to 4 million refugees, with 70% of them children and women. More than 98% of refugees in Turkey live outside camps. Some 3.6 million are Syrians who fled the ongoing war.