Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Nasser Shraideh and Director of the KfW Development Bank Jordan office Mark Schwiete on Tuesday signed two grant agreements funded by the Federal Republic of Germany summing up to 77.5 million euros altogether, according to a Germany embassy statement posted on its Facebook page.

The first agreement, which was also signed by  General Director of the National Aid Fund (NAF) Omar Mashaqbeh, consists of emergency assistance for the amount of 50 million euros. 

This contribution aims at supporting social protection to prevent poverty caused by the COVID-19 crisis, the statement said. 

This grant will be disbursed before the end of the year to the NAF as a contribution to the third phase of the Takaful programme supporting 100,000 poor households throughout the year 2021. 

The second agreement includes a grant of 27.5 million euros to fund teachers’ salaries for the academic year 2020/2021, which is one of the projects under the Jordan Response Plan. 

This grant aims at financing the salaries of the additional teachers and administrative staff working in afternoon shifts at the schools of the Ministry of Education, concluded the statement.