Day: March 27, 2022

DOHA, 26 March 2022 – Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) announced an $8 million contribution to UNICEF today, in an agreement signed by Director General HE Mr. Khalifa Jassim Al-Kuwari and UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell, in the margins of the Doha Forum.

The contribution will go towards UNICEF’s core funding for 2022-2023 and will not be earmarked for specific programmes, which will allow UNICEF to direct them where the need is greatest. This helps achieve the most significant long-term impact for children, and quickly fill in life-threatening gaps in emergencies.

HE Mr. Khalifa Jassim Al-Kuwari, Director General of QFFD said: “The strategic partnership between QFFD and UNICEF is considered one of the most important partnerships to change the lives of millions of children, especially in countries in most need for fundamental support. These agreements confirm with QFFD’s dedication in supporting the health and well-being of children at risk around the world.”

“With flexible funding, UNICEF can allocate resources where they’re needed the most,” said Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director. “I commend Qatar for believing in the importance of funding predictability and helping us make sure that no child in need is forgotten.”

The QFFD contribution to core funding is a significant step in advancing its longstanding partnership with UNICEF and complements generous support for children in emergencies. Since 2017, contributions from QFFD have been vital for UNICEF’s response to various diseases including the cholera outbreak in Yemen. In addition, in 2018, UNICEF partnered with QFFD to rehabilitate water and sanitation infrastructure in Yemen and Iraq. Previously in 2019, QFFD signed a core contribution to support the resources of UNICEF and help save the lives of children and their families.

Source: UN Children’s Fund

February is the month in which we celebrate International Mother Language Day.

In the field of refugee education, this day has particular significance as language is often one of the first obstacles faced by refugee children who have to adapt to a new school environment without mastering the main learning medium.

Policies and provision of language instruction for refugees vary across countries. Current practices of inclusion within national education systems only partially attend to refugees’ linguistic needs and many countries struggle to provide appropriate language support for new arrivals. Language-ofinstruction issues thus impact millions of refugee children, contributing to low academic achievement and high drop-out rates.

In response to refugee influxes, host country education systems are forced to use whatever learning resources are readily available. In such contexts, refugee teachers are a key resource, and it is essential to support them as they have the potential and most often an incredible will to contribute to the education of children in their community – and in the host community – to support their integration (see next page: Cameroonian refugee teachers in Chad).

Fluency in the local language not only impacts the ability to learn, but also influences the pace and degree of social and cultural cohesion with the host community that is so essential to adapting to a new context. It is therefore the cornerstone of an effective inclusive refugee education policy.

Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees