Commissioner Christos Stylianides announced in Oslo that dedicating 4 per cent of EU humanitarian aid to education in emergencies by 2019 was one of his top priorities.
S&D president Gianni Pittella said:
"I strongly welcome this statement made by the Commissioner and share his commitment. We met last week and decided to work together on this issue.
"The S&D Group has launched a campaign to raise awareness about the need to invest more in access to education in humanitarian emergencies. We see again and again that conflict and disaster-affected communities consider their children's education a priority, sometimes even before basic material needs. Still, this remains the least funded humanitarian sector globally, with an allocation of less than 2 per cent of overall humanitarian assistance.
"Behind the headlines, there is a silent humanitarian crisis of young generations at risk of being lost in conflict or natural disaster-affected areas. We hope therefore that the first-ever World Humanitarian Summit will express a similar commitment in May 2016 in Istanbul; a commitment that will also be mentioned in the report by S&D MEP Guerrero Salom, Parliament's rapporteur on the Summit. For this, the EU has to give a good example and this announcement is a positive and promising step in the right direction.
"The S&D Group is going to submit a proposal for the 2016 EU budget, which will be another step on this path. We are going to propose an increase in the EU's humanitarian aid budget with a view to achieving the goal set by the Commissioner."
