File Photo: Egyptian and European flags. Photo courtesy of SIS.
According to a commission statement issued on Monday, the funding for Egypt will support humanitarian assistance across several sectors for the most vulnerable groups. This includes programmes that provide education for out-of-school children and a regional disaster preparedness initiative.
Egypt currently hosts more than 1.5 million refugees and asylum seekers, most of them from Sudan and Gaza.
The wider 450 million euro package comes as major international donors scale back support to the region and humanitarian law faces growing pressure amid ongoing conflicts.
The EU said the aid aims to provide life-saving assistance to millions of people across the Middle East.
In Syria, the bloc will allocate 210 million euros to support emergency response efforts, including food aid, healthcare, shelter, clean water, and education for children who have dropped out of school. More than 16.5 million people in the country still require humanitarian assistance.
In Palestine, 124 million euros will fund food, health, protection, shelter, and education programmes delivered by humanitarian partners working under extremely difficult conditions. More than 3.3 million people require assistance, including 2.1 million in Gaza and 1.2 million in the occupied West Bank.
Lebanon will receive 100 million euros to support emergency healthcare, essential assistance for families who lost their homes, protection services, shelter, and education for children forced out of school. In March 2026, Israeli airstrikes displaced more than 800,000 people, adding to already severe humanitarian needs.
Moreover, 15.5 million euros will be directed to Jordan to help maintain essential services such as healthcare and protection for refugees living both inside and outside camps.
Hadja Lahbib, European commissioner for equality, preparedness, and crisis management, said the EU is stepping up its humanitarian efforts in a region deeply affected by conflict.
“In a war-torn Middle East, the European Union is stepping up while others are stepping back. We are now the largest donor still providing humanitarian aid in some of the world’s most severe crises, helping people during the darkest moments of their lives. International humanitarian law exists to protect them, and Europe will defend it. We will continue to deliver life-saving aid for as long as it is needed,” Lahbib said.
The funding forms part of the commission’s annual global humanitarian decision for 2026, implemented through country-specific humanitarian plans.
According to the EU, assistance is allocated strictly based on humanitarian needs and in line with the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence. It is delivered through a network of UN agencies, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations operating on the ground.
The 450 million euro package also includes 67.5 million euros mobilized from the EU’s emergency aid reserve, pending approval by the relevant budgetary authority.
On Friday, Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty urged the EU to speed up the disbursement of the second tranche of its support package to Egypt, citing growing economic pressure from the ongoing military escalation following coordinated US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
In a phone call with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas on Friday, Abdelatty pointed to rising energy and food prices, increasing shipping and maritime insurance costs, and the broader negative impact on the Egyptian economy.
The second 4 billion euro tranche is part of a 7.4 billion euro EU support package agreed in March 2024 to help Egypt cope with a series of economic shocks, from the Israeli war on Gaza to the ongoing effects of the war in Ukraine.
The European Union released an initial 1 billion euro tranche in January 2026 to ease short-term financing pressures and create fiscal space for social spending. The second tranche is expected to be disbursed in three instalments through 2027.
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