Preventing a lost generation: KfW supports schools for Syrian refugee children in Turkey

• KfW signs funding contracts amounting to EUR 120 million
• Securing futures through education
• 29,000 children can attend school

On behalf of the European Union, as part of the Facility for Refugees in Turkey (FRIT), and in the context of the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis "MADAD", KfW today signed two funding contracts with the Turkish Ministry of Education amounting to roughly EUR 120 million. The funds will be channelled into building an expected 41 primary and secondary schools for Syrian refugee children and Turkish children in 13 Turkish provinces with a high concentration of Syrian refugees, including Adana, Gaziantep and Şanlıurfa. These measures will create a good 980 new classrooms and thereby enable more than 29,000 pupils to attend school. Technical equipment and school furniture are also being funded.

"Turkey has taken in approximately 2.7 million refugees, and is therefore the largest host country in the world. Education is extremely important for Syrian families and their children. Whether we can avoid losing a generation depends largely on the education opportunities of their children", said Dr Norbert Kloppenburg, Member of the KfW Executive Board.

Roughly 45% (more than 1.22 million) of the Syrian refugees currently residing in Turkey are children, and a good 830,000 of them are of school age. Consequently, and in addition to the EU-funded measures, KfW has earmarked EUR 73.8 million since 2015 on behalf of the German Federal Government to support Syrian refugees in Turkey. These funds have primarily improved access to education and social care for Syrian refugee children in Turkey.

KfW currently has 164 education projects underway in 41 countries worldwide with a commitment volume of EUR 2.1 billion.

Further information on KfW Development Bank can be found at www.kfw-entwicklungsbank.de under the Special Topic "Refugees".