HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser discusses education in refugee camps with UNHCR High Commissioner Antonio Guterres (centre) in Geneva yesterday. PICTURE: Maher Attar / HOPPL
QNA/Geneva
HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser yesterday visited the headquarters of the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva to discuss progress in the education projects that UNHCR is running with the support of her ‘Educate A Child’ initiative.
In her first visit to the UNHCR headquarters, HH Sheikha Moza was welcomed by High Commissioner Antonio Guterres.
HH Sheikha Moza discussed with UNHCR representatives some of the positive results of Educate A Child (EAC) support to UNHCR’s education activities in refugee camps.
In November 2012, HH Sheikha Moza launched EAC to trigger significant progress in helping children in difficult circumstances, including poverty and conflict, gain access to education. EAC is working with a number of partners, including UN agencies and local NGOs, and has already supported over half a million children.
The partnership between EAC and UNHCR benefited more than 176,000 schoolchildren in 2012 in camps across Africa, Asia and the Middle East region.
EAC support has helped with construction of classrooms and teacher accommodation, increased enrollment, teacher training and provision of textbooks and desks.
In addition, EAC support to UNHCR has provided a platform to discuss the situation of refugees in some countries and to advocate for quality education as a necessity along with food, housing, and healthcare.
Children affected by conflict and crisis are a long-standing priority for HH Sheikha Moza, who is a Unesco Special Envoy for Basic and Higher Education, UN Advocate for the second Millennium Development Goal to achieve universal primary education, and a member of steering committee of Education First, set up by the UN Secretary General in September 2012.
