Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides on Thursday represented Cyprus at the “Supporting Syria and the Region” conference at Lancaster House in London, an official announcement said.

The minister briefed participants on Cyprus’ commitment to donate – through the European Union – €2.4 million to refugee-flooded Lebanon and Jordan.

He also announced the establishment of a Scholarship Plan by the Republic of Cyprus for postgraduate programmes to be offered to Syrian refugees who temporarily live in Lebanon and Jordan.

The funding of the Plan will be 100 thousand euro per academic year, for a five-year period (academic years 2016-2021).

The Scholarship Plan might be used as a standard for providing aid to other countries the Republic of Cyprus shall wish to support in the framework of the Growth Cooperation.

The Conference was co-hosted by the United Kingdom, Kuwait, Germany, Norway and the United Nations and it aimed at raising awareness regarding the situation of 13.5 million displaced and 4.39 million refugee Syrians who live in neighbouring countries, as well as at ensuring financial commitments to address the plethora of humanitarian needs arising from the continuous crisis in Syria.