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DAFI 2016 Annual report

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The global policy environment for education in displacement has seen important advances. In 2015, States committed to Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) and its Framework for Action. In 2016, another milestone was set through the adoption of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants and its annex the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) at the United Nations General Assembly. The international community has committed itself to comprehensive approaches and sustainable solutions to large-scale and protracted refugee situations and emphasized the importance of responsibility-sharing. The New York Declaration highlights the role of higher education in supporting solutions for individuals and communities – increasing their resilience and self-reliance – and states that scholarships are an important means to enable access to higher education for refugees and to help them build a secure future. Moreover, UNHCR signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Global Partnership for Education (GPE)in 2016. GPE enables developing Member States to provide quality, inclusive education to all through effective and resilient education systems and thus provides a platform for the strategic inclusion of refugees in national systems. SDG4, CRRF and GPE mutually enforce UNHCR’s efforts to provide sustainable solutions for the education of refugees, including higher education.

Despite progress being made in including refugees in global and national development frameworks, refugee students remain disadvantaged in pursuing their education – especially higher education – and thus in shaping their own futures.
Only 1% of refugee youth is enrolled in higher education, compared to 36% of youth globally.1

UNHCR’s Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative (DAFI)2 is a recognized model for flexible, targeted support for young refugees. It combines protection, solutions and human development approaches. Since 1992, it has supported more than 12,000 refugees to study in their host countries. In light of the high numbers of refugees worldwide, the DAFI programme continues to play a key role in minimizing the interruption of individual education careers, offering real opportunities to young refugees and ensuring that their rights and protection needs are fully respected.

In 2016, the German Government increased its contribution to the DAFI programme. Additionally, the Saïd, Asfari and Hands-Up Foundations provided dedicated support for Syrian refugee students in Lebanon and Jordan through the DAFI programme. In 2016, 2,781 new scholarships were awarded. Multi-partner selection committees identified the new DAFI students among 16,000 applicants by means of interviews and tests. As a result, in total 4,652 young refugees (2,032 young women and 2,620 young men) in 37 countries studied on a DAFI scholarship in 2016.

Turkey (825), Ethiopia (512) and the Islamic Republic of Iran (428) hosted the largest numbers of DAFI students. The share of scholarships awarded to young refugee women increased from 42% in 2015 to 44% in 2016. In 2016, Syrian refugee students were the largest group (38%) supported by the DAFI programme, followed by refugee students from Afghanistan (15%) and Somalia (10%).

UNHCR’s efforts to enable access to higher education for as many students as possible utilizes innovative solutions promoted by the Connected Learning in Crisis Consortium (CLCC) 3 founded in 2016. Since 2010 over 6,500 refugee learners in 11 countries have participated in Connected Learning programmes combining face-to-face and online learning.

UNHCR and its partner organisations facilitated opportunities for skills development, internships and networking to enable DAFI students and graduates to take full advantage of their studies and diplomas.

The substantial expansion of the DAFI programme from 2,321 scholarships in 2015 to 4,652 in 2016 was accompanied by close collaboration with global, regional and national actors in terms of funding, selection, monitoring, and ensuring enabling environments for DAFI students. As an example, UNHCR signed a MoU with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in 2016 focusing on harmonised advocacy, joint campaigns and coordinated programme planning and implementation between DAFI and DAAD’s Higher Education Programme for Syrians (HOPES).