The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Direct Aid signed an agreement to fully sponsor & cover the costs of educating 40 refugee university students in Somalia, Kenya, Zanzibar and Tanzania. This agreement comes as a further step to the strategic partnership between the two parties, as it aims to provide a framework for both parties to improve facilitating the Direct Aid scholarships jointly, enabling refugees and returnees to obtain the highest quality of higher level of education and obtain higher education qualifications, which will contribute in increasing the ability of students to make a living, become self-reliance and contribute to developing their society and spread peace through their countries of origin if they decide to return home voluntarily and with dignity.
Through this initiative, Direct Aid will cover the full cost of tuition and registration fees for refugee and returnee students admitted to Direct Aid universities in the countries covered within the University Grants Initiative Program for the entire period of study in accordance with the laws and regulations of the universities covered by the program which are Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Sumait University in Zanzibar, Al-Umma University in Kenya, Simad University in Somalia, and Morgurru University in Tanzania.
Dr. Abdullah Al-Sumait, The Director and General Manager of Direct Aid, stated that such partnerships consolidate the vision of Direct Aid in raising the level of empowerment in African societies, where education is one of the main paths of human empowerment, which leads to developing individuals economical, health, awareness levels especially in poor communities that already receive aid to support education and teaching projects.
“We would also love to highlight the important role of Direct Aid partners with their unlimited support in ensuring the continuity of the education journey for a better human life in Africa” – he concluded.
In Addition, the UNHCR representative in Kuwait, Nessrin Rabe’an expressed her gratitude for this partnership between the two parties in support of humanitarian issues, and refugee issues in particular, 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 contribute to supporting our efforts to provide educational opportunities for refugees that will open up new horizons for them, enable them to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to lead productive lives and to be able to achieve a bright future and sustainable economic stability.”