The European Union has ratified a grant of 70 million euros to fund an "emergency employment" programme in Egypt, EU ambassador to Egypt James Moran announced on Thursday.
The programme will include labour-intensive local community projects in small-scale infrastructure, waste management and other areas, an EU spokesperson told Ahram Online.
Egypt's unemployment rate currently stands at 13.3 percent, with 3.7 million jobless Egyptian nationwide, almost 70 percent of whom are aged between 15 and 29 and hold diplomas or university degrees, according to state-run statistics body CAPMAS.
"The decision on the EU's grant assistance programme for Egypt in 2014/15 will be taken next month," Moran added.
The total value of the EU's ongoing programme is over 1 billion euros, according to the statement.
