DOHA: Al Fakhoora, a Qatar- based programme, has signed agreements with UN agencies to launch $40m education, reconstruction and psychosocial support projects in Gaza.
Al Fakhoora is part of Education Above All (EAA), a global initiative founded in 2012 by H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser.
The agreements were signed yesterday with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Unicef, and United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA) during a press conference at Al Shaqab in Doha.
The agencies will ensure the right of primary, secondary and post-secondary students to quality education, strengthen child protection systems and provide psycho-social support to children.
The Foreign Ministry had signed an agreement to donate $40m from Qatar Development Fund to support the programme last November.
Farooq Burney, Director, Al Fakhoora, said the deals were an important milestone towards the achievement of Al Fakhoora’s mission of reconstructing and rehabilitating educational facilities in Gaza.
“Palestinian children and adolescents will not only be beneficiaries, but also active participants in the change Al Fakhoora project will bring about in their communities. It is a chance not only for the children and their families, but for all of Palestine,” he said.
The UNDP project, ‘Right to Education in the Gaza Strip’, will allow over 600,000 Palestinian children and youth to regain equitable access to quality education and its completion in an inclusive child-friendly learning environment by 2016, said Frode Mauring, UNDP Special Representative.
He said education is the way out of poverty and the way forward to build nations. “The needs in Gaza are immense. More than half the population is under 18. This partnership will allow youth in Gaza to take a deeper view of their commitment to society and contribute to their right to shape the future. The project will enhance educational attainment and economic viability by rebuilding schools and educational facilities damaged during the recent conflict.”
The UNRWA project will work to restore a safe and effective learning environment for about 242,000 children enrolled in UNRWA schools, said Scott Anderson, UNRWA Representative.
“School should be a place where children feel safe, secure and free to explore potential. Last summer’s conflict means that too many schools in Gaza no longer represent that haven. I thank Al Fakhoora for timely support that will help restore the learning environment the children deserve,” said Anderson.
The UNICEF project, ‘Investing in Education and Building Resilience in Gaza’ will use a “build back better” approach to ensure that child-friendly schools are safe places and will support innovative education for 113,885 students and teachers in 168 schools in Gaza, said June Kunugi, Unicef Special Representative in Palestine.
She said the project will strengthen child protection systems to provide psychosocial support to children and enhance adolescents’ social entrepreneurship skills so that they can become active agents of change in their communities.
“At a time when so many Palestinian children in Gaza struggle to return to a normal life, we welcome this project which takes concrete steps to help girls and boys study in a safe, stimulating and uplifting environment, where entrepreneurial learning and innovation are also nurtured,” she said.
The Peninsula
