UNDP, EU join forces to support Syrians in Turkey

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the EU have a new program to strengthen the economic and social resilience of Syrians, host communities, and relevant national and local institutions in Turkey.

According to a UNDP statement released on Friday, the two-year program will focus on job creation, municipal services, and Turkish language training in 11 provinces of Turkey.

The program aims to create jobs for 2,000 Syrians and host communities, it said.

"The UNDP Turkey Resilience Project in response to the Syria Crisis is supported by the EU Regional Trust Fund in response to the Syrian crisis with €50 million," the statement said.

Implementation of the project started on Feb. 1, it said.

According to the statement, Turkey hosts over 3.5 million Syrians under temporary protection, and the government spent $30 billion over the last six years in response to the Syria crisis.

Claudio Tomasi, the UNDP’s country director in Turkey, said the new project is part of the UNDP’s ongoing Syrian Crisis Response and Resilience Program funded by the Turkish government as well as Japan and Kuwait, the U.S. Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, German development bank KfW, and the EU Instrument for Stability.

"The program strongly builds on our longstanding work in the southeast Anatolia region on social and economic empowerment,” Tomasi said.