A drive to bring the half of the world's 15 million refugee children missing from schools back into the classroom was one of the flagship pledges made at the Global Refugee Forum on Thursday.
The pledge committed countries to opening their national education systems to refugees – with 32 states promising funding or national policy changes. The promoters noted Egypt's role in integrating Syrian refugee children into its schools. The initiative is sponsored by Canada, Germany, UK and the World Bank.
Another major pledge addressed migrant crossings the Mediterranean. The commitment to protect refugees crossing by sea is led by the International Organisation for Migration and other major international agencies.
“Protection at sea can be fostered in different ways, including by building capacities to provide and co-ordinate rescue,” said Yusra Mardini, an Olympic swimmer and Syrian refugee who presented the pledge.
Egypt, which is co-leading a big multistakeholder pledge on peace-building and conflict prevention with the governments of Colombia and Norway, announced two new commitments towards this on Wednesday.
The first of these addresses the impact of climate change on displaced people on the African continent, and builds on the Cop28 flagship initiative on sustaining peace.
Presenting the pledges, Dr Ahmed Ihab Gamaleldin, Egypt’s ambassador to Switzerland, referred to the Israeli bombardment of Gaza. “There a deliberate plan to render entire territory uninhabitable and force displacement of people whether inside or outside Gaza in clear violation of international law,” he said.
This was an example of the “stark consequences of seeking to manage crises” rather than approach their “root causes”.
However, these new commitments are mired by dire funding shortfalls, highlighted at the forum on Wednesday.
King Abdullah of Jordan said the country had received only 20 per cent of required pledges this year, the lowest on record, in his opening address, while the UN refugee agency said it was still missing $400 million in funding.
Mark Angel, Vice-President of the European Parliament, acknowledged these shortages to The National. “It is important, especially in Europe, [that] we should not forget funding the UNHCR and UN and all the civil society organisations that are very much involved in refugees,” he said.
These should be distributed to organisations supporting refugees within Europe, as well as host countries outside the EU. “In our countries a lot of NGOs are helping to integrate refugees in our societies and they also need funding from governments,” he said.
As part of its pledge, the European Parliament will aim to discuss displacement, asylum and protection with other host countries, he explained.
It will also work with the UNHCR to help parliaments draft legislation and exchange good practice. Not all pledges made in the last gathering were met, and many refugee advocates at the forum highlighted their wish to see words transformed into action.
Sasha Chanoff, chief executive of Refuge Point, highlighted this. “There were so many commitments in the last global refugee forum that I'm not sure there was a mechanism to really follow through on all of those as adequately as needed,” he told The National.
He was hopeful that this year’s pledges would be different. “I think there's more efforts this time to create multi-stakeholder pledges, and to also think about how to follow through on those so that the actors that are making those pledges can actually actualise them,” he said.
The approach to supporting refugees had changed, he added. “The old paradigm of providing aid and support until people go home doesn't really work any more. So we need to find new pathways for people to build self-reliant lives,” he said.
Educating refugees should go beyond schools, and into higher education, some have stressed.
Refugees often struggle to obtain the paperwork required to register for higher education, and funding is also an issue, said Liliana Lyra Jubilut, co-chair of the Global Academic Interdisciplinary Programme, a network which seeks to support higher education for refugees in their host countries.
Among the network’s commitments are 25 scholarships for women pursuing a masters programme in science (STEM) subjects which will take place as a pilot project in Jordan, in partnership with the Organisation for Women in Science for the Developing World.
Formed during the last forum, the network aims to create “localised” initiatives that address the challenges on a country-by-country basis. “There is this idea of trying to have a more localised construction of knowledge so that we can have better fitted responses to refugee situations,” said Prof Jubilut.
Abdel Moumen, a journalist and Syrian refugee who was born and lives in Jordan, said his needs go beyond schooling.
As a refugee in Jordan, he is unable to work legally, and struggles with the same issue in other Arab countries. “We are educated and qualified, but we do not have the opportunity to work legally as foreigners,” he said.
The only solution, he insisted, was the naturalisation of refugees – a controversial issue in the Arab world. “We need opportunities for citizenship,” he said.
Mubadala World Tennis Championship 2018 schedule
Thursday December 27
Men's quarter-finals
Kevin Anderson v Hyeon Chung 4pm
Dominic Thiem v Karen Khachanov 6pm
Women's exhibition
Serena Williams v Venus Williams 8pm
Friday December 28
5th place play-off 3pm
Men's semi-finals
Rafael Nadal v Anderson/Chung 5pm
Novak Djokovic v Thiem/Khachanov 7pm
Saturday December 29
3rd place play-off 5pm
Men's final 7pm
Heavily-sugared soft drinks slip through the tax net
Some popular drinks with high levels of sugar and caffeine have slipped through the fizz drink tax loophole, as they are not carbonated or classed as an energy drink.
Arizona Iced Tea with lemon is one of those beverages, with one 240 millilitre serving offering up 23 grams of sugar - about six teaspoons.
A 680ml can of Arizona Iced Tea costs just Dh6.
Most sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, five teaspoons of sugar in a 500ml bottle.
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Roger Federer's record at Wimbledon
Roger Federer's record at Wimbledon
1999 - 1st round
2000 - 1st round
2001 - Quarter-finalist
2002 - 1st round
2003 - Winner
2004 - Winner
2005 - Winner
2006 - Winner
2007 - Winner
2008 - Finalist
2009 - Winner
2010 - Quarter-finalist
2011 - Quarter-finalist
2012 - Winner
2013 - 2nd round
2014 - Finalist
2015 - Finalist
2016 - Semi-finalist
Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
How the UAE gratuity payment is calculated now
Employees leaving an organisation are entitled to an end-of-service gratuity after completing at least one year of service.
The tenure is calculated on the number of days worked and does not include lengthy leave periods, such as a sabbatical. If you have worked for a company between one and five years, you are paid 21 days of pay based on your final basic salary. After five years, however, you are entitled to 30 days of pay. The total lump sum you receive is based on the duration of your employment.
1. For those who have worked between one and five years, on a basic salary of Dh10,000 (calculation based on 30 days):
a. Dh10,000 ÷ 30 = Dh333.33. Your daily wage is Dh333.33
b. Dh333.33 x 21 = Dh7,000. So 21 days salary equates to Dh7,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service. Multiply this figure for every year of service up to five years.
2. For those who have worked more than five years
c. 333.33 x 30 = Dh10,000. So 30 days’ salary is Dh10,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service.
Note: The maximum figure cannot exceed two years total salary figure.
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDeveloper%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ETeyon%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENacon%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EConsole%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20PlayStation%205%2C%20Xbox%20Series%20X%2FS%20and%20PC%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
T20 World Cup Qualifier
October 18 – November 2
Opening fixtures
Friday, October 18
ICC Academy: 10am, Scotland v Singapore, 2.10pm, Netherlands v Kenya
Zayed Cricket Stadium: 2.10pm, Hong Kong v Ireland, 7.30pm, Oman v UAE
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Rameez Shahzad, Darius D’Silva, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zawar Farid, Ghulam Shabber, Junaid Siddique, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Waheed Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Zahoor Khan
Players out: Mohammed Naveed, Shaiman Anwar, Qadeer Ahmed
Players in: Junaid Siddique, Darius D’Silva, Waheed Ahmed
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The biog
First Job: Abu Dhabi Department of Petroleum in 1974
Current role: Chairperson of Al Maskari Holding since 2008
Career high: Regularly cited on Forbes list of 100 most powerful Arab Businesswomen
Achievement: Helped establish Al Maskari Medical Centre in 1969 in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region
Future plan: Will now concentrate on her charitable work
India squads
T20: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, Deepak Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Shivam Dube, Shardul Thakur
Test: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies direct from Dubai to Rio de Janeiro from Dh7,000 return including taxes. Avianca fliles from Rio to Cusco via Lima from $399 (Dhxx) return including taxes.
The trip
From US$1,830 per deluxe cabin, twin share, for the one-night Spirit of the Water itinerary and US$4,630 per deluxe cabin for the Peruvian Highlands itinerary, inclusive of meals, and beverages. Surcharges apply for some excursions.
The Land between Two Rivers: Writing in an Age of Refugees
Tom Sleigh, Graywolf Press
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
How to help
Call the hotline on 0502955999 or send "thenational" to the following numbers:
2289 - Dh10
2252 - Dh50
6025 - Dh20
6027 - Dh100
6026 - Dh200
