{"id":219603,"date":"2019-08-29T17:18:54","date_gmt":"2019-08-29T21:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&p=219603"},"modified":"2019-08-29T17:18:54","modified_gmt":"2019-08-29T21:18:54","slug":"46000-palestine-refugee-students-return-to-unrwa-schools-across-the-west-bank-press-release","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/46000-palestine-refugee-students-return-to-unrwa-schools-across-the-west-bank-press-release\/","title":{"rendered":"46,000 Palestine Refugee Students Return to Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA Schools across the West Bank – Press Release"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"StudentsStudents at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA Silwan Girls’ School gather for during their first week of back to school. \u00a9 2019 Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA Photo by Marwan Baghdadi.<\/p>\n

This week, 46,000 Palestine refugee girls and boys began the 2019-2020 scholastic year in the 96 schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA) in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Students at the Silwan Girls\u2019 School in East Jerusalem were particularly excited to go to school, not only to see their friends, but also because their school, as many others, was renovated over the summer holidays with generous support from the Saudi Fund for Development.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cOpening the new school year in Silwan was an important moment for a community of Palestine refugees who otherwise see little hope on the horizon. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA activities serve as an anchor and provide some stability in their lives,\u201d said Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Kr\u00e4henb\u00fchl, who joined the pupils of the Silwan Girls\u2019 School today. \u201cEducation lies at the very heart of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA mandate and the children I met today are a powerful reminder that this investment is absolutely essential.\u201d<\/p>\n

For nearly 70 years, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA has safeguarded the right to education for Palestine refugee children and has provided inclusive and quality education, including during times of conflict, blockade and occupation. Many students – including those living in the Silwan area – regularly witness clashes with security forces and tensions as a result of the increasing presence of settlers and settler organizations. This return to school is also a symbol of preserving normalcy and a safe learning environment.<\/p>\n

Some 2.5 million students have graduated from Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA schools since the 1950s. Through its education system, the Agency aims to ensure that Palestine refugee students develop their full potential and become confident, innovative, questioning, thoughtful and open-minded, to uphold human values and tolerance, and to contribute positively to the development of society and the global community. Through this investment in human capital, made possible by the remarkable support from its donors and partners, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA has also contributed significantly towards generating opportunities and employment.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring every visit to an Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA school in the West Bank and East Jerusalem one is impressed by the unique commitment of Palestine refugees to education and the acquisition of knowledge,\u201d said Mr Kr\u00e4henb\u00fchl. \u201cDespite the considerable adversity they face, many of the students are high achievers and show great courage in the pursuit of learning. Their families are proud of them and we are humbled by their steadfastness. We are also deeply grateful to Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA school principals, teachers, counselors and many others who worked hard to prepare the new scholastic year and to ensure our schools will remain open.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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BACKGROÄ¢¹½ÊÓƵD INFORMATION<\/h2>\n
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Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA is confronted with an increased demand for services resulting from a growth in the number of registered Palestine refugees, the extent of their vulnerability and their deepening poverty. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions and financial support has been outpaced by the growth in needs. As a result, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA programme budget, which supports the delivery of core essential services, operates with a large shortfall. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA encourages all Member States to work collectively to exert all possible efforts to fully fund the Agency\u2019s programme budget. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA emergency programmes and key projects, also operating with large shortfalls, are funded through separate funding portals.<\/p>\n

Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and mandated to provide assistance and protection to some 5.4 million Palestine refugees registered with Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA across its five fields of operation. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip achieve their full human development potential, pending a just and lasting solution to their plight. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, protection and microfinance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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For more information, please contact:<\/h2>\n
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Sami Mshasha<\/b><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Director of Communications, Arabic Language Spokesperson<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Mobile:<\/div>\n
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+972 (0)54 216 8295<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Office:<\/div>\n
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+972 (0)258 90724<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Show Email<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Tamara Alrifai<\/b><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA Spokesperson<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Mobile:<\/div>\n
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+962 (0)79 090 0140<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Show Email<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Students at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA Silwan Girls’ School gather for during their first week of back to school. \u00a9 2019 Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA Photo by Marwan Baghdadi. This week, 46,000 Palestine refugee girls and boys began the 2019-2020 scholastic year in the 96 schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA) in […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":301,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"template-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[1329],"document-source":[1817],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[1945,2033,2441,1745],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-219603","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-press-release","document-source-united-nations-relief-and-works-agency-for-palestine-refugees-in-the-near-east-unrwa","document-subject-assistance","document-subject-children","document-subject-education-and-culture","document-subject-refugees-and-displaced-persons","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/219603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/219603\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=219603"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=219603"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=219603"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=219603"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=219603"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=219603"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=219603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}