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File:UniRef logo.png
UniRef logo

UniRef – University for Refugees – is a humanitarian non-governmental organization, specialized in delivering higher education for refugees, and headquartered in Geneva (Switzerland). In partnership with world-class universities and international humanitarian organizations, UniRef offers university courses to refugees and to people from the host community facing financial difficulties. In order to propose a formation adapted to the specific living context of the community and in line with the local demands of qualification in the labor market, this NGO provides its own courses in cooperation with its partners.

Origins of the Organization

Initially known as Swiss International Humanitarian Organization (SIHO), UniRef was created by Yvelyne and Bryan Wood in 2013, with the aim to support victims of armed conflicts. The first mission of the Organization, in Burundi, was named UniRef – University for Refugees[1] –, and intended to offer access to tertiary education for refugees. The name of the mission has remained, becoming the name of the Organization, which reflects the evolution of its commitment with a focus on higher education.

According to UNESCO, the access to education, and particularly to higher education, entails a strategic challenge for the resolution of humanitarian crisis[2]. Tertiary education is not only a factor of development but also a crucial agent of integration for young refugees[3]. Indeed, obtaining a diploma constitutes a valuable opportunity of sustainable integration through employment and thereby of inclusion in the host society. This has a significant importance given that the dependence on humanitarian aid exposes them to a risk of social exclusion that may lead to social tensions. Based on the declarations of the CEO/president of UniRef, Yvelyne Wood, during the press conference held in Abu Dhabi at the beginning of May 2018, UniRef mission will not only enable refugees to get out of precarity, but also of the situation of assistance and dependence, through the provision of needful means to take control of their future[4].

While there are many programs that promote access to higher education for refugees, there are just a few that focus on the first cycle of tertiary education, rather proposing advanced formations at Master’s Degree’s levels. As a result, it excludes most of the youngsters in age to pursue higher education[5]. Besides, according to UNESCO[6], as infrastructures and institutions are planned for a classic academic functioning, not many programs are adapted to the particular conditions of refugees. Additionally, their adaptation will depend on the means of the host country, generally under pressure in a humanitarian crisis context.

Its missions

Refugee camp in Musasa, Burundi

The first mission based in Burundi intended to deliver a professionalizing formation to high school graduates, nationals from the Republic of the Congo (DRC), in Musasa camp from September 28th, 2015, the opening date of the first classes[7].

This transit camp mainly hosts the civil war victims, a war that rages DRC from 1996, following the Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi[8]. The current vocation of UniRef has been built on this pilot project.

The start of the programs had to be postponed due to political disturbances occurred in September at the capital, Bujumbura[9]. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in charge of it, the number of Congolese refugees kept increasing on this transit camp in 2018[10], even though in 2007 they were already more than 5,500[11]. The Burundian political crisis that sparked in 2015 led to restrictions in 2017. As the Government controlled the action of associations[12] and international NGOs[13], many of them were forced to cease their activity or found neutralized their actions. In these circumstances, UniRef had to withdraw and amend its mission, while 880,000 Congolese citizens had to integrate the country where they found refuge, in Burundi[14]. The Representative Office of the NGO, located in Muyinga has been closed from December 2017.

Humanitarian partnership in Jordan with the Red Cross and Red Crescent Organizations

Starting on September 2020, after two years of implementation, a mission conducted in Jordan will propose university formations for urban Syrian refugees and for the local population. The project will be carried out in partnership with the Jordanian Red Crescent[15] and other affiliated institutions to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). For the President of the Jordanian Red Crescent, higher education does not only enable refugees to contribute to the reconstruction of their country in the coming years, but it also constitutes a security strategy, given that it prevents the youth to get recruited by extremist groups[16].

Whereas the young refugees aged from 15 to 24 were the ones facing the most negative impact from the Syrian crisis, in 2015 they were the most neglected by the international aid[17]. Even if a few initiatives have emerged, the access to higher education is still very limited and consists of lifting the legal and financial obstacles, generally through scholarship programs[18]. Furthermore, according to the UN, the infrastructures and the public academic institutions in Jordan are not adapted to refugees[19]. Indeed, one of the most important obstacles for higher education is the capacity of planning required to accomplish of a long formation. The refugee population is generally deprived of this capacity.  In order to mitigate this deficiency, UniRef has designed these professionalizing university courses, compressed in a shorter duration than the traditional courses, lasting about one year and accessible to the refugees having accomplished their secondary education[20]. The proposed formation will be provided in three fields in order to cater for the increasing needs of the regional labor market.

Connex Articles

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Une université va ouvrir ses portes dans le camp de Musasa au Burundi". France 24 (in French). 2015-03-19. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  2. ^ https://plus.google.com/+UNESCO (2015-12-03). "Education in emergencies". UNESCO. Retrieved 2020-05-13. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help); External link in |last= (help)
  3. ^ "Draft Preliminary Report Concerning the Preparation of a Global Convention on the Recognition of Higher Education Qualifications". unesdoc.unesco.org. 2015. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  4. ^ Sankar, Anjana. "Swiss charity offers year-long university course for refugees". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  5. ^ unesdoc.unesco.org https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000266075. Retrieved 2020-05-13. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ^ "Paper commissioned for the 2019 Global Education Monitoring Report, Migration, displacement and education: Building bridges, not walls". 2018.
  7. ^ Article ([[Special:EditPage/{{{1}}}|edit]] | [[Talk:{{{1}}}|talk]] | [[Special:PageHistory/{{{1}}}|history]] | [[Special:ProtectPage/{{{1}}}|protect]] | [[Special:DeletePage/{{{1}}}|delete]] | [{{fullurl:Special:WhatLinksHere/{{{1}}}|limit=999}} links] | [{{fullurl:{{{1}}}|action=watch}} watch] | logs | views)
  8. ^ MIGABO, Valentin. "Une centaine de groupes armés sème le chaos au Congo". The Conversation. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  9. ^ Une université dans une camp de réfugiés (Le temps). "Une Université dans un camp de réfugiés". Retrieved 2020-05-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ "Le Chef du HCR appelle à un soutien accru pour les réfugiés congolais". UNHCR (in French). 13 April 2018. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  11. ^ "Données de base HCR Burundi". UNHCR (in French). 31 October 2008. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  12. ^ Article ([[Special:EditPage/{{{1}}}|edit]] | [[Talk:{{{1}}}|talk]] | [[Special:PageHistory/{{{1}}}|history]] | [[Special:ProtectPage/{{{1}}}|protect]] | [[Special:DeletePage/{{{1}}}|delete]] | [{{fullurl:Special:WhatLinksHere/{{{1}}}|limit=999}} links] | [{{fullurl:{{{1}}}|action=watch}} watch] | logs | views)
  13. ^ Article ([[Special:EditPage/{{{1}}}|edit]] | [[Talk:{{{1}}}|talk]] | [[Special:PageHistory/{{{1}}}|history]] | [[Special:ProtectPage/{{{1}}}|protect]] | [[Special:DeletePage/{{{1}}}|delete]] | [{{fullurl:Special:WhatLinksHere/{{{1}}}|limit=999}} links] | [{{fullurl:{{{1}}}|action=watch}} watch] | logs | views)
  14. ^ "« Urgence République démocratique du Congo »". UNHCR.
  15. ^ "Syrian refugees in Jordan to get university education". 7 May 2018.
  16. ^ "Swiss charity offers year-long university course for refugees". 7 May 2018.
  17. ^ "Opportunities for Accelerating Progress on Education for Syrian Children and Youth in Jordan" (PDF). Theirworld. 2015.
  18. ^ "Access to Higher Education for Refugees in Jordan ," (PDF). 2016.
  19. ^ Article ([[Special:EditPage/{{{1}}}|edit]] | [[Talk:{{{1}}}|talk]] | [[Special:PageHistory/{{{1}}}|history]] | [[Special:ProtectPage/{{{1}}}|protect]] | [[Special:DeletePage/{{{1}}}|delete]] | [{{fullurl:Special:WhatLinksHere/{{{1}}}|limit=999}} links] | [{{fullurl:{{{1}}}|action=watch}} watch] | logs | views)
  20. ^ "Swiss charity offers year-long university course for refugees". 7 May 2018.
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