Nisreen Rubaian, UNHCR's Representative to the State of Kuwait and Director-General of Direct Aid, Dr. Abdullah Al-Sumait during the signing ceremony. ©UNHCR/ Loulwah Al-Tarkeet
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and Direct Aid Society have signed an agreement to cover the education costs of 40 refugee university students in Somalia, Kenya, and Tanzania. This agreement comes as a continuation of the strategic partnership between the two entities, as it aims to expand access to quality education for refugee and returnee students by providing scholarships that allow them to obtain higher education qualifications, and therefore, contribute to increasing the students’ ability to obtain livelihoods and self-reliance and contribute to peacebuilding and reconstruction of their host communities and home countries upon their safe and dignified return.
Through this initiative, Direct Aid will cover the total expenses of tuition fees and registration of admitted refugee and returnee students throughout their education at the included universities in the “Direct Aid Scholarships Initiative”, which are: Abdulrahman Al-Sumait University- Zanzibar, Umma University- Kenya, SUMID University- Somalia, and Muslim University of Morogoro in Tanzania.
Nisreen Rubaian, UNHCR’s Representative to the State of Kuwait, expressed her appreciation for this initiative, and said: “We extend our sincere thanks to Direct Aid Society for their continuous support for UNHCR’s humanitarian activities, and we are proud of our partnership and fruitful cooperation between us.” She added: “The agreement will support our efforts to provide educational opportunities for refugees that will open new horizons for them and enable them to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills needed to live a productive life and be able to achieve a bright future and sustainable economic stability.”
From his side, the Director General of Direct Aid, Dr. Abdullah Al-Sumait, stated: “Such partnerships consolidate the vision of the association in empowering African societies, where education is one of the main paths to human empowerment, which in return directly contributes to enhancing the economic, health and awareness levels of individuals in poor communities that receive the support in learning opportunities and education projects.” He added: “We emphasize the importance of the role of aid partners and their unlimited support in the continuation of the education for a better life for people in Africa.”
UNHCR, released its 2023 Refugee Education Report earlier this month, which showed that more than half of the world’s 14.8 million school-age refugee children are missing out on formal education, while only 6% of young refugees are enrolled in tertiary education, putting their future and the achievement of the global Sustainable Development Goals at risk.
To view the report, Unleashing Potential: The Right to Education and Opportunity, please click here.
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