Poland and Hungary have inked a memorandum to work together in providing humanitarian aid to the Middle East and Africa, according to reports.

Under the memorandum, which was signed in Budapest on Thursday, the two countries will carry out joint humanitarian projects in areas including war-torn Syria, public broadcaster Polish Radio reported.

In one such project, Poland and Hungary plan to jointly finance the construction of a EUR 1.6 million orphanage for at least 120 children in the Syrian city of Homs, according to Poland’s minister for humanitarian aid, Beata Kempa, who signed the memorandum together with Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szíjjártó.

Kempa said last month that Poland was spending more on humanitarian aid every year.

Last year Poland allocated PLN 181 million for humanitarian aid and almost PLN 590 million for development projects, according to Kempa. The resulting total of over PLN 770 million (EUR 180 million, USD 212 million) was some PLN 357 million more than in 2016, she said.

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Source: Polish Radio/IAR/PAP