Attachments
Introduction
As part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 2018 Global compact on refugees which paved the way forward to ensure an “inclusive and equitable quality education” and to promote “lifelong learning opportunities for all”, UNHCR continues to explore innovative approaches to ensure greater access to quality higher education for refugees. In the MENA region, UNHCR and UNESCO co-hosted “The Regional Conference on Higher Education in Crisis Situations” held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt in 2017 towards achieving the objective of a more accessible education.
In Jordan, several initiatives have been launched recently to find ways to strengthen the Connected Learning approaches to benefit both Jordanians and displaced communities in the Kingdom. Key among them is the Connected Learning in Crisis Consortium (CLCC), co-led by UNHCR and the University of Geneva (InZone), which aims to promote, coordinate, and support the provision of quality higher education in contexts of conflict, crisis and displacement through a blended learning approach that combines face-to-face and online learning. In December 2018, CLCC, together with the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) organized the first “Round-Table for Connected Learning in Jordan”.
Recommendations of this roundtable helped in drawing seeds for a future road map in the field on connected learning by establishing strong global and national partnerships with key international and national academic institutions.
Specifically, to fulfil the basic requirements for an accessible community-based education, UNHCR is establishing some 10 Community Learning and Innovation Hubs throughout Jordan in order to provide refugee youth with high quality post basic education pathways. The first of these centres was inaugurated in Amman on 27/03/2019, in partnership between UNHCR, Google, Johud and Learning Equality.