To mark World Refugee Day, Education Above All (EAA) and its partner Spark NGO celebrated a 10,000 milestone scholarship.
Education Above All (EAA) awarded on Sunday its 10,000th scholarship through the Qatar Scholarship programme to a 19 year old refugee.
Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of EAA and UN Sustainable Development Goals Advocate, participated in a pre-recorded virtual event to mark World Refugee Day in a bid to highlight the importance of supporting the right to education worldwide.
Our 10,000th scholarship goes to Kubar! Watch how we surprised her with a message from HM Queen Máxima of the Netherlands @unsgsa @ComitevoorO @koninklijkhuis and HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser @EAA_foundation. pic.twitter.com/mN6T8kJib0
— SPARK (@SPARKorg) June 20, 2021
EAA’s Al Fakhoora programme partnered with SPARK, a Dutch NGO specialised in job creation for youth in disadvantaged areas, to protect the right to education in the face of global challenges that have left many students out of schools.
“This accomplishment illustrates EAA and SPARK’s joint commitment to supporting the right to education for marginalised youth across the globe and the crucial role that higher education specifically plays in conflict-affected regions,” EAA said in a statement.
The event was attended by Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development and members of the Netherlands Committee for Enterprise.
The officials spoke with two Syrian students about their education and entrepreneurial ambitions.
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One of the students, Kubar Msho, 19, who now lives in the northern Kurdish region of Iraq, received the 10,000th scholarship from the European Union.
“Congratulations to all of you who have managed to achieve your dreams, despite your difficult circumstances and the added hurdle of the pandemic. Your unwavering ambition is an inspiration to all of us,” Sheikha Moza said, speaking to three Syrian scholarship recipients in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.
Join us now live! On #WorldRefugeeDay, with HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, founder of EAA and HM Queen Máxima of the Netherlands.https://t.co/jVDokGx7od
— Education Above All Foundation (@EAA_Foundation) June 20, 2021
“We will continue to connect quality education with meaningful employment through Education Above All and our economic empowerment foundation, Silatech. I do not want this conversation to end; rather it must be a renewed beginning. These 10,000 scholarships should serve as a road map to follow, to grant new hopes, new opportunities, and new lives to tens of thousands of other displaced youth,” she added.
EAA’s Al Fakhoora programme, through Qatar Scholarship, partnered with the Dutch NGO SPARK in 2016 in to provide over 7,000 higher education and economic empowerment scholarships to Syrian youth, refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and vulnerable youth, the foundation stated stated.
According to EAA, SPARK is now the largest scholarship provider for Syrian refugees in the Middle East, thanks to financial contributions from several organisations including Qatar Fund for Development and the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis.
EAA and SPARK plan to proceed with their mission “to empower youth, promoting equitable access to quality higher education as a fundamental right and a tool for reducing poverty, generating economic growth, and creating peaceful and just societies.”
