The USD 500,000 contribution comes in addition to the USD 5 million granted by the Emir of Kuwait in 2015 for UNESCO’s regional education response strategy, “Bridging Learning Gaps for Youth” (2016-2017). This new contribution will support the “Enhancing Access to Secondary Education and Quality Results for Youth Affected  by the Syria Crisis in Lebanon” to address critical learning gaps of vulnerable youth. It will assist the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in Lebanon in their efforts to reach out-of-school Syrian refugees, by building capacity to manage catch-up programmes and more active learning strategies. The agreement was signed in the presence of the Ambassador of Lebanon to UNESCO, Mr Khalil Karam.

Expressing gratitude for the contribution to the Government of Kuwait, the Director-General referred to her participation in the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul (May 24-25) during which she advocated forcefully for increased financing to meet the learning needs of Syrian youth in the host countries and bridge the humanitarian to development divide. She underlined that the provision of learning opportunities and skills training was the best response to the risk of radicalization and extremism. The Director-General drew attention to the launch of the Education Cannot Wait Fund as one of the key outcomes of the World Humanitarian Summit, and referred to the tremendous efforts of the Lebanese government to  integrate Syrian refugee children and youth through their “Reaching All Children with Education” (RACE) strategy.

 The Ambassador of Kuwait, Mr Meshal Hayat, underlined his Government’s firm commitment to support Syrian youth and commended UNESCO’s educational response in the region.