Finland allocates 3 million to support children’s education in Syria

Finland will allocate 3 million euros through the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF to supporting the most vulnerable children’s access to education in Syria, informed the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Finland's support will be used for renovating school buildings, supporting non-formal education of 4,500 children by offering out-of-school lessons, psychosocial support and learning materials, and improving access to school and basic services for 500 children with disabilities.

“Improving children's education means investments in the future of Syrian people. Over two million children in Syria are out of school. We cannot afford losing this generation. In 2018, more than 70,000 children enrolled in school in Syria thanks to the cooperation between Finland and UNICEF. This is a good start. This time our aim is to help children with disabilities start school and to support their families,” says Tarja Fernández, Ambassador of Finland to Lebanon.

The project is a continuation of Finland's earlier support of education in Syria in 2017–2018. In addition to the children who started school, nearly 29,000 young people benefited from the support in the form of vocational training, for example.

Finland has supported UNICEF’s work promoting Syrian children access education in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, too. Finland's total assistance in response to the crisis in Syria in 2019 is approximately 25 million euros.

The support consists of both humanitarian aid and development cooperation funding both within Syria and in its neighbouring countries.