{"id":26399,"date":"2017-12-05T15:53:23","date_gmt":"2017-12-05T14:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/?p=26399"},"modified":"2018-02-20T11:52:01","modified_gmt":"2018-02-20T10:52:01","slug":"education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\/","title":{"rendered":"Education is key for refugees to build their futures. Here\u2019s how we can help them do that."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Access to higher education scholarships, training, and professional opportunities for refugees is essential. \u00a0Yet, just one percent of refugees attend university compared to 34 percent of people globally.<a href=\"#_ftn1\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a> Of the more than 4 million Syrian refugees in the world today, the International Institute for Education (IIE) estimates at least 100,000 university-qualified students are not in higher education.<a href=\"#_ftn2\" name=\"_ftnref2\">[2]<\/a> At the onset of the conflict, 26% of Syrian young people were enrolled in tertiary education.<a href=\"#_ftn3\" name=\"_ftnref3\">[3]<\/a> Today, Syria\u2019s higher education system is all but decimated, leaving behind hundreds of thousands of young Syrians, and with them, the scholars and leaders of tomorrow, many of whom will play a significant role in rebuilding Syria and its institutions.<\/p>\n<p>Education is often interrupted when people are forcibly displaced across borders. Unfortunately, the cost of education remains the most prohibitive factor preventing refugees from re-entering higher education. In recognition of this fact, there has been a recent proliferation of tertiary scholarships for refugees, particularly for Syrian refugees. However, whilst demand for these opportunities still outstrips supply, few Syrian refugees are aware of the scholarship opportunities that are available to them; much less how to take advantage of them. A recent spike in the number of scholarships, vocational training opportunities, and labour mobility initiatives highlights the need for a comprehensive UNHCR-supported platform that consolidates these opportunities so that refugees are better able to harness them.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Due to capacity constraints, however, UNHCR does not at present provide services to match refugees with tertiary scholarships that best suit their preferences. While there are various websites that identify some available scholarships, currently there is no one-stop comprehensive and searchable platform for refugee scholarships available.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>That\u2019s why, in June 2015, I set about designing the Refugee Education and Expert Platform (REEPx); a global scholarship-finder platform that would also provide access to professional mentoring, vocational training and labour mobility opportunities. The web-integrated smartphone app would help refugees easily find tertiary scholarships tailored to their needs and preferences. Offering a dedicated space for education providers and universities to advertise their scholarships for refugees, it would also assist UNHCR to vet those scholarships, facilitate direct contact between refugees and mentors, and enable donations at the click of a button to fund refugees\u2019 tertiary studies, through the platform.<\/p>\n<p>Version 1 of REEPx was designed to be available in Arabic and English, filling the obvious gap by connecting Syrian refugees with tertiary scholarship opportunities. Subsequent versions were designed to cater to other major refugee populations through additional language versions and culturally relevant user experiences and additional functionalities including access to mentors. In this way, REEPx was also designed to be scaled to other refugee populations and for broader education and employment purposes.<\/p>\n<p>After 18 months of research and development, I was able to attract significant interest in the platform from the private sector and internal stakeholders, and in 2016 I completed a UNHCR Innovation Fellowship. However, a similar concept developed by an NGO for the MENA region, and the announcement by the IIE in November 2016 of a similarly named initiative to develop a near-identical concept to REEPx,<a href=\"#_ftn4\" name=\"_ftnref4\">[4]<\/a> presented major challenges to the development plans for REEPx, placing a question mark over whether it will eventually go live. Below, I share some of the valuable lessons I\u2019ve learnt throughout the innovation process to date.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>5 key tips to keep in mind<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Do your homework. <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Ask yourself a lot of questions (and keep asking yourself these throughout the process): <em>Am I reinventing the wheel? What is the purpose of what I am creating? Is the thing I am creating going to serve that purpose? <\/em>If you answer the first of these questions in the affirmative, you should ask yourself why you are investing &#8211; and why anyone else would invest to develop (or further develop) your innovation. The second, third and fourth questions are to ensure relevance, effectiveness, and impact of your innovation. Is your idea going to serve the need you set out to address in the first place? If it isn\u2019t, you should again ask yourself why you are investing in the further development of your innovation &#8211; and why you are asking anyone else to do so. If your innovation speaks directly to one or more key strategic areas of focus of the organization, including organizational strategies and policies, this is a good first sign (and will be key to establishing institutional \u2018buy-in\u2019 down the track). But remember to continually come back to these questions throughout the process, and refine your innovation (\u2018iterate\u2019 it) accordingly. One of the best ways to do this is to write it down. Draw your innovation and keep drawing it every few weeks or whenever you have a new idea about it. It will evolve, and this is a good thing. Storyboards that assist you to see how each piece of the puzzle fits together are very useful, including for explaining your innovation to others and ensuring you have thought through and joined all \u2018links in the chain\u2019, as these early \u2018user story\u2019 drawings illustrate:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26401 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/RefugeeEducation_AppPrototype.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"468\" height=\"596\" \/><\/p>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li><strong>Mentorship and buy-in are key.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Identify an in-house mentor\/champion who will help drive and \u2018market\u2019 your innovation internally and externally. This is essential and should form part of your early stakeholder mapping exercise. An in-house champion will also help you to discern the best entities to partner with and in theory, should assist you to gain their necessary \u2018buy-in\u2019. Choose your champion wisely; think not only about their own areas of focus but also about their strategic potential to help you drive your innovation forward. What are they passionate about? What are they focusing on? Ideally, they will play a key role in advocating for your innovation and linking it to other organizational strategic events and priorities, thus helping you to \u2018insert\u2019 your innovation where relevant. Don\u2019t be afraid to reach out to senior management in the organization about your innovation.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li><strong>Find mutually reinforcing strategic initiatives and engage your end-users.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Formally engage in strategic initiatives that will provide you with a \u2018testing\u2019 ground for your innovation, or which will provide a \u2018launching pad\u2019 for your concept. For example, as I was developing a scholarship and mentoring platform for refugee youth, it made sense to attend the Global Refugee Youth Consultations where I could seek initial user-feedback on my low-fidelity prototypes from refugee youth themselves who had direct experience with applying for education scholarships (and who ultimately put me in touch with some of my best \u2018partners\u2019). Had I been able to formally present the platform to refugee youth at the GRYC, however, this would no doubt have leant significant credibility to the platform as a concept and may well have further driven its development. While access to these events may be difficult in some cases, refer back to tip #2 and explore whether your in-house champion may be of assistance.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"4\">\n<li><strong>Seek multiple perspectives on your innovation.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Talk to as many people as possible about your innovation, and seek as many perspectives on your idea as you can, within and outside of your organization. Think of every person you speak to about your idea as a stakeholder and sincerely seek their feedback. Be humble and listen. This will help you to gain different perspectives on your innovation and to see it from new angles. This is crucial to ensure you haven\u2019t overlooked any step in the process; they may provide your innovation with an added detail you didn\u2019t previously realize it needed, and it will be extremely valuable in helping you to create your \u2018user stories\u2019. It will also help you to tailor the way you \u2018sell\u2019 your innovation to different end users or attract investors (on this note, you should not be afraid to \u2018tailor the sell\u2019 of your innovation differently, depending on your audience &#8211; in fact, you <em>should<\/em> do this). Just remember this: some won\u2019t be as convinced as you are about your own idea, but you don\u2019t need to take all the advice you receive on board. Not every piece of advice you receive is good advice and just because you seek it, doesn\u2019t mean it must be incorporated into your design process.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"5\">\n<li><strong>Your idea is just an idea until it isn\u2019t.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>In the beginning, when I was conceptualizing REEPx, I was afraid that if I told too many people about it, or elaborated too many of its details, someone would steal my idea. Then a wise friend, who was in the process of developing an app himself, reminded me that <em>until you have your prototype down on paper and moving as a project, it\u2019s just an idea<\/em>&#8230; You might be the first one to have the idea, but many people often come up with the same idea at around the same time. Talking about your idea can be risky, but it\u2019s one you need to take if you want to get your project moving and ultimately, to create exposure. Competitors may end up REEPing the benefits of your idea, but what matters is whether, in the end, the end user has a good solution to their problem. In this case, whether the refugee is better equipped to find the right scholarship in order to continue their education.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\">[1]<\/a> Global enrolment rates refer to 2014 (UNESCO Institute for Statistics) and refugee enrolments rates refer to 2015 (UNHCR). See, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),\u00a0<em>Missing Out: Refugee Education in Crisis<\/em>, September 2016,\u00a0available at:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.refworld.org\/docid\/57da83714.html\">http:\/\/www.refworld.org\/docid\/57da83714.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref2\" name=\"_ftn2\">[2]<\/a> James King, \u2018The &#8220;Delivering Higher Education to Syrian Refugees&#8221; Workshop: A Rare Moment of Guarded Optimism\u2019, The IIE Blog, Wednesday, January 6, 2016, available at:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.iie.org\/Blog\/2016\/January\/The-Delivering-Higher-Education-To-Syrian-Refugees-Workshop#.WFwoiuErJE4\">http:\/\/www.iie.org\/Blog\/2016\/January\/The-Delivering-Higher-Education-To-Syrian-Refugees-Workshop#.WFwoiuErJE4<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref3\" name=\"_ftn3\">[3]<\/a> UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Syrian Arab Republic Education and Literacy, available at: <a href=\"http:\/\/uis.unesco.org\/country\/sy\">http:\/\/uis.unesco.org\/country\/sy<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref4\" name=\"_ftn4\">[4]<\/a> Institute for International Education, Press Release, 7 November 2016, \u201cIIE Offers Scholarships for Syrian Students with Support from Major Foundations\u201d, available at: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.iie.org\/Who-We-Are\/News-and-Events\/Press-Center\/Press-Releases\/2016\/2016-11-07-IIE-Offers-Scholarships-for-Syrian-Students#.WFzfwOErJE5\">http:\/\/www.iie.org\/Who-We-Are\/News-and-Events\/Press-Center\/Press-Releases\/2016\/2016-11-07-IIE-Offers-Scholarships-for-Syrian-Students#.WFzfwOErJE5<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Access to higher education scholarships, training, and professional opportunities for refugees is essential. \u00a0Yet, just one percent of refugees attend university compared to 34 percent of people globally.[1] Of the more than 4 million Syrian refugees in the world today, the International Institute for Education (IIE) estimates at least 100,000 university-qualified students are not in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":26403,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[545,547],"tags":[658,657,26,321,530],"class_list":["post-26399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-innovation-process","category-technology","tag-application","tag-humanitarian-innovaiton","tag-innovation-fellowship","tag-refugee-education","tag-technology"],"acf":{"author":"Yanya Viskovich","authors_title":"Former Legal Officer, UNHCR"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Education is key for refugees to build their futures. Here\u2019s how we can help them do that. - UNHCR Innovation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Education is key for refugees to build their futures. Here\u2019s how we can help them do that. - UNHCR Innovation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Access to higher education scholarships, training, and professional opportunities for refugees is essential. \u00a0Yet, just one percent of refugees attend university compared to 34 percent of people globally.[1] Of the more than 4 million Syrian refugees in the world today, the International Institute for Education (IIE) estimates at least 100,000 university-qualified students are not in [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UNHCR Innovation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UNHCRInnovation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-12-05T14:53:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-02-20T10:52:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/RF243293_GABO_20160225_3121-e1512480520539.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1333\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lauren Parater\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@UNHCRInnovation\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@UNHCRInnovation\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lauren Parater\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lauren Parater\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f197de84fe715f55e91cb34cdadf902b\"},\"headline\":\"Education is key for refugees to build their futures. Here\u2019s how we can help them do that.\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-12-05T14:53:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-02-20T10:52:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1667,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/RF243293_GABO_20160225_3121-e1512480520539.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"application\",\"humanitarian innovaiton\",\"innovation fellowship\",\"refugee education\",\"technology\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Innovation Process\",\"Technology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\\\/\",\"name\":\"Education is key for refugees to build their futures. Here\u2019s how we can help them do that. - UNHCR Innovation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/RF243293_GABO_20160225_3121-e1512480520539.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-12-05T14:53:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-02-20T10:52:01+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/RF243293_GABO_20160225_3121-e1512480520539.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/RF243293_GABO_20160225_3121-e1512480520539.jpg\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1333,\"caption\":\"Syrian refugee Hanan Dacka (centre), 12, plays with her new Brazilian friends Maria, 12, Julia, 12, and Andressa, 12, at the Duque de Caxias Municipal School, in the Glicerio neighbourhood of downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil. Hanan arrived in Sao Paulo with her mother, Yusra Bakri, in early 2015 and was recognised as a refugee by the Brazilian government in September of that year. Speaking Portuguese fluently, she carries a great deal of responsibility helping the older members of her family, who haven't yet learned the local language, navigate the day to day life, pay the rent and buy groceries. ; Brazil is now home to 8,400 refugees from more than 60 countries, according to data provided by the National Committee for Refugees, or CONARE, an agency affiliated with Brazil's Ministry of Justice. Around 4 million Syrians left their country due to the 6-year conflict between rebels and the Bashar Al Assad government, 2,000 of those immigrants came to Brazil, that since 2013 has issued more than 7000 \u201chumanitarian visas\u201d to victims of the Syrian civil war. This 'open-door' policy was recently extended for two more years, and in late 2015 UNHCR and Brazil agreed to a set of activities to make the process of granting those special visas more efficient and secure. Better procedures will be in place to identify families and people with special needs who may qualify for a special visa for Brazil. Not only Syrian nationals, but also others affected by the Syrian conflict can benefit from this programme.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Education is key for refugees to build their futures. Here\u2019s how we can help them do that.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/\",\"name\":\"UNHCR Innovation\",\"description\":\"Innovation starts with people\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"UNHCR\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/CFR-UNHCR-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/CFR-UNHCR-logo.png\",\"width\":1466,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"UNHCR\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/UNHCRInnovation\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/UNHCRInnovation\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/unhcrinnovation\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f197de84fe715f55e91cb34cdadf902b\",\"name\":\"Lauren Parater\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/15e0b7d58755e296842afd6ef363338d496c82ead32ee0a5308e61afb0ae44f7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/15e0b7d58755e296842afd6ef363338d496c82ead32ee0a5308e61afb0ae44f7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/15e0b7d58755e296842afd6ef363338d496c82ead32ee0a5308e61afb0ae44f7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lauren Parater\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unhcr.org\\\/innovation\\\/author\\\/lparater\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Education is key for refugees to build their futures. Here\u2019s how we can help them do that. - UNHCR Innovation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Education is key for refugees to build their futures. Here\u2019s how we can help them do that. - UNHCR Innovation","og_description":"Access to higher education scholarships, training, and professional opportunities for refugees is essential. \u00a0Yet, just one percent of refugees attend university compared to 34 percent of people globally.[1] Of the more than 4 million Syrian refugees in the world today, the International Institute for Education (IIE) estimates at least 100,000 university-qualified students are not in [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\/","og_site_name":"UNHCR Innovation","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UNHCRInnovation\/","article_published_time":"2017-12-05T14:53:23+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-02-20T10:52:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":1333,"url":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/RF243293_GABO_20160225_3121-e1512480520539.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lauren Parater","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@UNHCRInnovation","twitter_site":"@UNHCRInnovation","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lauren Parater","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\/"},"author":{"name":"Lauren Parater","@id":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/#\/schema\/person\/f197de84fe715f55e91cb34cdadf902b"},"headline":"Education is key for refugees to build their futures. Here\u2019s how we can help them do that.","datePublished":"2017-12-05T14:53:23+00:00","dateModified":"2018-02-20T10:52:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\/"},"wordCount":1667,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/RF243293_GABO_20160225_3121-e1512480520539.jpg","keywords":["application","humanitarian innovaiton","innovation fellowship","refugee education","technology"],"articleSection":["Innovation Process","Technology"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\/","url":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\/","name":"Education is key for refugees to build their futures. Here\u2019s how we can help them do that. - UNHCR Innovation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/RF243293_GABO_20160225_3121-e1512480520539.jpg","datePublished":"2017-12-05T14:53:23+00:00","dateModified":"2018-02-20T10:52:01+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/RF243293_GABO_20160225_3121-e1512480520539.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/RF243293_GABO_20160225_3121-e1512480520539.jpg","width":2000,"height":1333,"caption":"Syrian refugee Hanan Dacka (centre), 12, plays with her new Brazilian friends Maria, 12, Julia, 12, and Andressa, 12, at the Duque de Caxias Municipal School, in the Glicerio neighbourhood of downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil. Hanan arrived in Sao Paulo with her mother, Yusra Bakri, in early 2015 and was recognised as a refugee by the Brazilian government in September of that year. Speaking Portuguese fluently, she carries a great deal of responsibility helping the older members of her family, who haven't yet learned the local language, navigate the day to day life, pay the rent and buy groceries. ; Brazil is now home to 8,400 refugees from more than 60 countries, according to data provided by the National Committee for Refugees, or CONARE, an agency affiliated with Brazil's Ministry of Justice. Around 4 million Syrians left their country due to the 6-year conflict between rebels and the Bashar Al Assad government, 2,000 of those immigrants came to Brazil, that since 2013 has issued more than 7000 \u201chumanitarian visas\u201d to victims of the Syrian civil war. This 'open-door' policy was recently extended for two more years, and in late 2015 UNHCR and Brazil agreed to a set of activities to make the process of granting those special visas more efficient and secure. Better procedures will be in place to identify families and people with special needs who may qualify for a special visa for Brazil. Not only Syrian nationals, but also others affected by the Syrian conflict can benefit from this programme."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/education-is-key-to-rebuilding-refugees-future-and-to-refugees-rebuilding-their-countrys-future-heres-how-we-could-help-them-do-that\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Education is key for refugees to build their futures. Here\u2019s how we can help them do that."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/","name":"UNHCR Innovation","description":"Innovation starts with people","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/#organization","name":"UNHCR","url":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/CFR-UNHCR-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/CFR-UNHCR-logo.png","width":1466,"height":600,"caption":"UNHCR"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UNHCRInnovation\/","https:\/\/x.com\/UNHCRInnovation","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/unhcrinnovation"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/#\/schema\/person\/f197de84fe715f55e91cb34cdadf902b","name":"Lauren Parater","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/15e0b7d58755e296842afd6ef363338d496c82ead32ee0a5308e61afb0ae44f7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/15e0b7d58755e296842afd6ef363338d496c82ead32ee0a5308e61afb0ae44f7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/15e0b7d58755e296842afd6ef363338d496c82ead32ee0a5308e61afb0ae44f7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lauren Parater"},"url":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/author\/lparater\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26399"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26399\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26408,"href":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26399\/revisions\/26408"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}