AKIPRESS.COM - The UN Refugee Agency hosted a regional workshop on refugee youth education in Almaty on March 15-17. The workshop gathered UNHCR education focal points from 20 Asian countries as well as representatives of UN sister agencies to widen education opportunities for refugee youth and through this to empower them to contribute to socio-economic development of their communities.

During the workshop participants shared good models of enhancing refugees access to higher-education, overcoming barriers to education for girls and linkages between education and preparation for employment as well as other livelihood options. They also discussed enhancing UNHCR capacity to deliver DAFI (Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative) scholarship programme for refugees, which – supported by Germany, Denmark, the Czech Republic and private sponsors - is implemented in 55 countries around the globe, including Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic.

“UNHCR looks forward to working closely with authorities and higher education institutions in Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic to serve as good models for expanding access for refugee youth in higher education,” said Hans Friedrich Schodder, UNHCR Representative for Central Asia.

Prior to the workshop, UNHCR Asia and global education experts visited academic institutions, authorities, refugee students, DAFI scholars, and private sector partners in Almaty to learn about cooperation and scholarship opportunities to enhance refugee youth education and employment prospects also in preparation for the second Global refugee Forum which will gather at ministerial level in December in Geneva.

At the moment, there are 13 Afghan refugee students in Kazakhstan and 6 students in Kyrgyzstan who pursue higher education thanks to DAFI scholarship.