"Today the European Commission is announcing a further increase of the share of its humanitarian aid budget to lead the way in supporting education projects in emergency situations around the world. The increase from 4% in 2016 to 6% in 2017 of the humanitarian aid budget, puts the Commission well ahead of the global average," the statement read.
The commission stressed that less than 2 percent of the global humanitarian funding are spent on education.
Praising the commitment, Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides said that "it [education] is one of our top priorities in our humanitarian aid programmes, from the Middle East to Africa and beyond, our aim is to enable access to quality education in a safe learning environment for vulnerable children caught in situations of emergency."
According to the European Commission, 75 million children are living in crisis-affected countries worldwide.
The EU humanitarian aid budget is slightly above $1 billion a year.
