A delegation headed by Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Nasser Al-Shraideh participated in the Sixth Brussels Conference on Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region, organized by the European Union in Brussels.

The delegation included the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate Affairs and Jordan's Ambassador to Brussels.

The sessions of the conference and the declaration of pledges on the European side were chaired by the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union Josep Borrell, and the European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Oliver Varheli.

According to a statement issued by the ministry today, Thursday, Minister Al-Shraideh said that the pledges from donor agencies and countries that were confirmed by the international community at the Sixth Brussels Conference amounted to $6.7 billion for the years 2022 and 2023, and beyond, in the form of humanitarian and development aid to address the effects of the protracted Syrian crisis. (Inside Syria and the countries hosting refugees in the region).

The pledges of the European Union and its member states amounted to about 4.8 billion euros of the total of these pledges, and the United States of America pledged to provide 807 million dollars, and donors and international financial institutions pledged to provide assistance in the form of loans on concessional terms amounting to 1.8 billion dollars for 2022.

Al-Shraideh indicated that the officials participating in the conference expressed their appreciation for the heavy burden that Jordan bears among the countries hosting Syrian refugees in the region; Such as Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt and Iraq, and they called on the international community to continue providing various aspects of support to enable these countries to continue providing services to refugees, while these officials affirmed their countries’ positions on the voluntary, safe and dignified return of Syrian refugees.

On the sidelines of the conference, Minister Al-Shraideh met with a number of European Union officials and participating delegations, in the presence of the Jordanian ambassador in Brussels.

During the meeting with the European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Oliver Varehli, they discussed ways to enhance partnership relations between Jordan and the European Union, as well as the priorities of the partnership between the two sides and the European aid program for Jordan until 2024, and the government's economic priorities, in addition to the proposed projects for the public-private partnership.

Al-Shraideh presented the economic performance in light of the overall economic and social challenges in Jordan resulting from the repercussions of the Corona epidemic, as well as the additional repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, which requires the support and support of Jordan's development partners and its priorities to enable it to deal with these repercussions and move towards economic recovery.

The European Union initiative (Food Facility and Resilience in the Region) was discussed, as the European Union allocated 25 million euros to support Jordan out of the total amount of the initiative worth 225 million euros for neighboring countries in their response to the repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.

The Minister expressed his thanks and gratitude to the European Union for providing aid to Jordan and budget support to contribute to the implementation of reform and development programs for Jordan, support the implementation of programs and projects in priority sectors, and enable Jordan to bear the consequences of hosting Syrian refugees, in addition to the importance of financial aid at the macro level, which would Treasury support to cover the financing gap of the general budget, as well as the pledges announced by the European team to support the Aqaba Amman project for desalination and water transport - the national water carrier, with an amount of 1 billion euros in grants and development and investment loans, during a conference held at the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation at the end of last March .

According to the statement, Minister Al-Shraideh discussed with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi and Director of Asia and the Near East in the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration of the US State Department, Russell Shippel, the consequences of the Syrian refugee crisis on economic sectors, including the depletion of public services, infrastructure, resources and the labor market.

He expressed Jordan's appreciation for the efforts and role of donors in providing support to the Kingdom, calling on the international community to assume its responsibilities towards this issue, which needs to be kept as a priority on the international community's agenda while thinking of a different view of dealing with the refugee crisis.

And he valued the US side's pledge to provide $807 million to support Syria and the countries of the region to deal with the continuing repercussions of the Syrian crisis.

Minister Al-Shraideh discussed with Slovenian Minister of State for Development Stanislav Raskan ways to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

For their part, European officials commended Jordan for its important role in the region, expressing their thanks to Jordan for hosting the refugees and their understanding of the various financial and sectoral challenges and requirements resulting from hosting them, in addition to the need for a renewed and stronger commitment to continue providing support to Jordan to deal with the urgent needs of Syrian refugees and the communities hosting them. And the importance of standing by Jordan in these circumstances.

They stressed that the Syrian crisis and its consequences for the countries hosting refugees will remain on the agenda of the international community as a priority at a time when the world is also facing new developments represented by the outbreak of the crisis between Russia and Ukraine.

The objective of the conference, which is a commitment by the international community to mobilize and provide support to the Syrian people in facing the ordeal caused by the crisis in their country, as well as to support countries hosting refugees neighboring Syria.

As in previous conferences, representatives of the European Union institutions and Member States, the international community, regional and international organizations and civil society organizations, including the Representative of the Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and the United Nations Emergency Aid Coordinator, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, participated in the conference, International financial institutions, the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, and local and international NGOs.