The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has appreciated and praised Egypt for reiterating its commitment to expand services available to refugees and asylum-seekers in the health sector and ensure continuity of existing opportunities in the education sector.
During the high-level officials meeting, 14-15 December 2021, UNHCR, the UN representatives extended their appreciation to the Republic of Egypt for its continued outstanding contributions in that respect.
The UNHCR Representative to Egypt and to the League of Arab States Mr. Pablo Mateu said: “As a host country, Egypt has been a leading example in the region in hosting refugees and asylum-seekers in an urban setting, providing health and education services to thousands of refugees and asylum-seekers on equal footing as Egyptians.
At this point, international solidarity is crucial for Egypt to be able to maintain its hospitality and generous support to the refugee population within its territory."
That new appreciation of UNHCR, UN Refugee Agency came at a critical time when the international community was confronted with coronavirus, wars, and other important new challenges on a global scale.
According to UNHCR, Egypt has recently embarked on implementing a digital transformation strategy that among its pillars, aims to ensure that the educational process and content of learning are relevant to the challenges of the 21st Century, for all children and youth residing in the country.
On this basis, refugees included within the national system are also able to benefit from the important digital investments being made into public schools including accessing the digital Knowledge Bank content platform.
Also in this regard, UNHCR said that this initiative was complemented with the introduction of the Instant Network Schools (INS) global program in Egypt, aiming to digitalize 108 public schools to offer education programs for Egyptians, refugees, and asylum-seeker students by 2025 that complement existing programs.
Up to now, around 18 public schools have been revamped and equipped with the technology and connectivity needed to run INS classrooms and programs in collaboration with UNHCR and the Vodafone Foundation.
Earlier, Mr. Mateu said: “We are grateful to the Government of Egypt for their generosity in including refugees and asylum-seekers in the COVID national response plan, both healthcare and vaccination.”
According to the recent data released by UNHCR, more than 500 vaccinations took place at different medical centers and public hospitals across the Egyptian territory.
It's worth noting that the approach of registration with the UNHCR protects refugees and asylum-seekers from detention and deportation, and entitles them to obtain legal residence permits, legalizing their stay in Egypt.
Moreover, registered refugees and asylum-seekers get access to several social services.
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