Education Above All (EAA) Foundation, through its programme Al Fakhoora, has announced 585 higher education scholarships to Syrian and Palestinians students. A total of 485 scholarships are co-funded and implemented by SPARK in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, while the remaining 100 scholarships are implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Gaza/Palestine.

These scholarships fall under Dynamic Futures Scholarship and Empowerment Programme that aims at helping Syrian and Palestinian youth impacted by conflict and displacement to build a better future for themselves and their families, and lead their communities towards a more peaceful future.

The scholarships were awarded recently in four countries. The award ceremonies were attended by over 2,000 people, including students, their families, academics, representatives of international organisations and community leaders. To date, EAA Foundation’s Dynamic Futures programme has awarded over 4,500 scholarships to Palestinians and Syrian students in Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Palestine.

The Dynamic Futures programme offers scholarships to talented young students to undertake vocational diplomas and undergraduate education. The programme targets the most marginalised youth and offers additional support to help them attain economic independence through education. It aims to build a cadre of educated and trained leaders who are civic-minded, intellectually able and professionally skilled to become community, business and national leaders of the future.

“Education Above All Foundation is proud to be supporting these young students in pursuing their dreams,” said Farooq Burney, executive director, Al Fakhoora programme. “By investing in their future, these young people will be able to play a key role in rebuilding their communities and be able to realise their full potential.”

Yannick Dupont, SPARK director, said, “Rebuilding the future of refugees starts with giving them a meaningful and good education. They can use this to give back to the community they now live in and prepare for the rebuilding of Syria when it is possible to return."

Basil Nasser, head of UNDP office in Gaza said, “Education is a fundamental and enabling human right that is critical to the future of the Palestinian State and the achievement of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals”.

Building on the success of the Dynamic Futures programme, initially launched in 2009 in Gaza, EAA Foundation’s Al Fakhoora programme in partnership with SPARK, launched in 2016 the Global Dynamic Futures Scholarship and Empowerment Programme, which covers six new regions and provides Palestinians in East Jerusalem and West Bank, and Syrian IDPs and refugees in Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq with access to quality higher education.

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