(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By Fazeena Saleem / The Peninsula
World leaders at the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) yesterday called for action to address education challenges faced by young refugees and internally displaced youth.
The plenary session attended by H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation (QF) and Education Above All (EAA) Foundation, focused on refugee issues and stressed need for urgent action.
Nana Akufo-Addo, President of Ghana, Co-Chair of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Advocates, delivered keynote speech during the Education Above All Foundation's high-level panel discussion on ‘Asset over Burden Education for Refugee Youth'. He said that the world will not achieve the SDG if young people are denied quality educational opportunities.
'The specter of tens and tens of millions of young refugees growing up without the needed skills to create a meaningful life for themselves is a dangerous one. What do we expect them to do? What opportunities are available to them? How competitive can they be in this global economy? These are questions that must elicit a concerted and calculated response from the world's leaders, he said.
'Education is the key to development. Education creates social mobility. It will help children enter a good life and escape poverty. A critical look at the SDG reveal that education is key in it and has the greatest role in achieving the other goals. ……… In my view, education, education and more education is the only way by which we can foster a sense of cohesion and solidarity amongst displaced persons, especially of those of school going age, and, help create for them, an enabling environment, which will spur them on to lead more purposeful and dignified lives, he added.
The plenary session included discussion on enabling environment, centering on policy challenges, and implications, for refugees and internally displaced peoples' access to education and employment. Christos Stylianides, European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management said, 'Tens of millions of children are deprived of education. We cannot afford lost generations. No single child should be left behind. It is our moral duty to do more. This is why I will devote in the next year (2018) to increase funding of the EU's humanitarian budget to education in emergencies to reach eight percent.
Around 260 million children and adolescents are not in school today, and only one percent of young refugees able to access higher education. Panel speakers on ‘Asset over Burden Education for Refugee Youth,' included Dr Alaa Murabit, SDG Advocate for Health, Employment and economic growth, Kevin Murphy, President, ExxonMobil Foundation, Allan E. Goodman, CEO and President, International Institute of Education and Asmaa Fikree, Qatar Youth Advocate. They said that access to education is a fundamental human right and emphasized the importance of providing quality education for young refugees around the world.
Also EAA Foundation signed several new partnerships during WISE, as part of the Foundation's commitment to address the global education crisis and its goal of enrolling 10 million out-of-school children. The new partnerships will support more than 3,000 Syrian and Palestinian refugees living in Turkey with full university scholarships, including tuition, accommodation, health insurance and a monthly stipend in partnership with SPARK and the Council of Higher Education in Turkey. Also, 30 Palestinian junior teachers from Gaza will be supported to pursue graduate studies in the UK in partnership with the British Council. Launched in 2012 to enable human development through the provision of inclusive quality education, the Foundation has already committed to providing education opportunities to 7.3 million children worldwide.
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