50,000 school kits for kids hit by Syrian crisis in Jordan
DUBAI: As a follow-up to Dubai Cares’ successful volunteering initiative which took place during the Holy Month of Ramadan and involved the packing of 50,000 school bags, Dubai Cares has commenced with the distribution of the school bags to children affected by the Syrian crisis in Jordan, in partnership with Save the Children.
Dubai Cares launched the ‘Back to School’ edition of its ‘Volunteer Emirates’ initiative in May 2018 to support children affected by the Syrian crisis in Jordan. In alignment with UAE’S “Year of Zayed”, Dubai Cares initiative has received overwhelming support from the UAE community, as approximately 2,000 volunteers from all over the country came together to assemble the kits during the Holy Month of Ramadan.
Abdulla Ahmed Al Shehhi, Chief Operating Officer: “For children affected by the Syrian conflict in Jordan, these school kits are not only important for them to start a new academic year, but it gives a great push forward to keep delivering hope to the most marginalised and deprived children affected by emergencies and protracted crises. Through this initiative, we also hope to alleviate the already very heavy financial burden on families affected by the Syrian crisis in Jordan by giving children the necessary tools they need to learn and prosper.”
Khalil Hijazin, Save the Children Jordan Development Director, said: “We are very happy to cooperate again with Dubai Cares to improve children’s educational experience. This in-kind donation of backpacks by Dubai Cares not only ensures access to essential school supplies for thousands of children in need, but also complements our efforts that aim to encourage the enrolment of children in schools, by addressing one major barrier to enrolment which is the cost of stationery.”
According to a 2018 UNHCR report, Jordan recorded 657,628 registered Syrian refugees as of February 2018, with 51 per cent of those being children. Although 126,127 Syrian children were enrolled in public school during the 2016-2017 academic year, 40 per cent of schoolaged child refugees remain without an education. In Jordan’s Za’atari refugee camp, which today houses more than 80,000 Syrian refugees, around 25 per cent of the camp’s 28,599 school-aged children are out of school.