Higher education supports self-reliance and brighter futures for refugee youth, enabling them to contribute to the sustainable development of their communities.
Once they graduate from medical school in Kazakhstan, refugees Armin and Tabassum aspire to apply their skills to support the wellbeing of their communities. © UNHCR/ Aiya Siyaz
Higher education makes it possible for refugee youth to develop skills and earn qualifications, so that they can take a lead in identifying solutions to challenges that affect them and their host communities.
Providing access to higher education for refugees is at the heart of both the Global Compact on Refugees and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
With the significant costs that can be involved with higher education, it is often impossible for refugee families to afford higher education when there are mouths to feed, rent to pay and extra costs for younger children to attend school.
The DAFI (Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative) scholarship programme – through the dedicated support of the Government of Germany, along with the support of the Government of Denmark, as well as UNHCR and private donors – offers qualified refugee students the possibility to earn an undergraduate degree in their country of asylum or home country.
Refugee youth and DAFI scholars Tabasum, Sulaiman, Armin and Nadiya are enrolled in different universities in Kazakhstan and aspire to apply their skills to support the wellbeing and sustainable development of their communities.
For the 2024-2025 academic year, 17 refugee youth in Kazakhstan are studying at tertiary level thanks to the DAFI programme.
At the 2023 Global Refugee Forum, the Government of Kazakhstan pledged to introduce a refugee quota for its higher education scholarship programme.
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
