Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Ibrahim Saif said Jordan is in need of foreign aid to the tune of $4.5 billion to deal with the influx of Syrian refugees.

During the fifth meeting of the Host Community Support Platform (HCSP) that was attended by a number of Arab and foreign ambassadors as well as representatives of UN agencies and ministries, the minister said that the Cabinet had approved projects included in the national plan (2014-2016) to empower local communities hosting Syrian refugees.

Saif also announced the launch of the 2015 national plan to address the Syrian crisis and its impact on Jordan.

He said that projects in 11 sectors in the Kingdom have been prepared in cooperation with donor parties and the international community to determine requirements of the Jordanian government.

The national plan includes a request for $4.5 billion that will be distributed to sectors such as education, health, energy, municipal, water housing, labour, environment, transportation and justice.

The plan will focus on small and medium sized projects that support major sectors and will help the Kingdom address the crisis of Syrian refugees.

The minister urged the international community to provide humanitarian aid to the Syrian refugees and meet the requirements of the communities hosting Syrian refugees.

*Petra