WO R K I N G HAND IN HAND W I T H S T RO N G PA R T N E R S
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is a global organisation mandated to provide protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons and others of concern and to find solutions for them. As part of this, it is dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people. UNHCR leads international action to protect people forced to flee their homes because of conflict and persecution. It delivers life-saving assistance like shelter, food and water, helps safeguard fundamental human rights, and develops solutions that ensure people have a safe place to call home where they can build a better future. UNHCR is also mandated to prevent and reduce statelessness, ensuring that stateless people are granted a nationality. UNHCR considers it a priority to ensure that refugee students are included in national education systems and that they have access to educational opportunities at all levels, including secondary education. The UNHCR-UWC Cooperation Agreement was set up in 2017 with the aim of providing a comprehensive framework for the safe and secure access of refugees and internally displaced people (IDP) to UWC schools and colleges through a comprehensive scholarship programme. UNHCR supports the UWC Refugee Initiative with essential non-financial
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support, both in hosting and source countries, which includes authoritative guidance on refugee policy, technical advice, and information on complementary pathways to protection and solutions for refugee and IDP scholars seeking to study at UWC schools.
UWC is an anchor partner of Rise, an initiative of Schmidt Futures and the Rhodes Trust. Launched in 2020, Rise is a global youth empowerment initiative designed to increase opportunity for exceptional young people who are committed to helping others throughout their lives.
UNHCR has also supported UWC in promoting the UWC Refugee Initiative among international, national and local stakeholders as well as among refugee and internally displaced communities towards UWC selections.
Under the partnership with UWC, Rise is funding and UWC is delivering a foundational education programme at the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya for 60 refugee students. Rise is also supporting 15 global refugee scholars to attend UWC schools between 2021 and 2023. The foundation programme is co-created by UWC International, the UWC Kenya National Committee and Amala, a social enterprise focused on secondary refugee education set up by two UWC alumnae. Several UWC national committees will be involved in selecting the refugee scholars who will benefit from Rise-funded scholarships.
