Palestine refugees/Grants and scholarships – SecGen report

UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY

FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES IN THE NEAR EAST

Offers by Member States of grants and scholarships for higher education,

including vocational training, for Palestine refugees

Report of the Secretary-General

1. The present report is submitted to the General Assembly in pursuance of its resolution 474/47 D of 8 December 1989.

2. The report includes the substance of responses from Member States and United Nations agencies to the appeal contained in that resolution, together with reference to further action taken by Member States and United Nations agencies in response to the appeal contained in Assembly resolutions 32/90 F of 13 December 1977, 33/112 C of 18 December 1978, 34/52 C of 23 November 1979, 35/13 B of 3 November 1980, 36/146 H of 16 December 1981, 37/120 D of 16 December 1982, 38/83 D of 15 December 1983, 39/99 D of 14 December 1984, 40/165 D of 16 December 1985, 41/69 D of 3 December 1986, 42/69 D of 2 December 1987 and 43/57 D of 6 December 1988.  By these resolutions the Assembly appealed to all States, specialized agencies and non-governmental organizations to augment special allocations for scholarships and grants to Palestine refugees, and invited the relevant United Nations agencies to continue, within their respective spheres of competence, to extend assistance for higher education to Palestine refugee students.  The Assembly requested the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the near East (UNRWA) to act as recipient and trustee for such special allocations and scholarships and to award them to qualified refugee candidates.

3. In 1989, the Government of Japan offered 15 training fellowships to UNRWA's vocational training instructors.  Fourteen fellows were able to avail themselves of the offer and one from West Bank was unable to do so because she was denied a permit by the Israeli authorities.  The fellowships, which apply to studies in Japan, are under the guidance of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).  In the period 1985 to 1988 a total of 47 fellowships have been provided by the Government of Japan under this programme.  The Government of Japan, in a new university scholarship programme, contributed $1 million to be spent over a period of five-years.  The programme is confined to Palestine refugee students from the occupied territory and in the first year, 1989/90, a total of 68 awards were made.

4. The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany awarded a total of 24 fellowships in the period 1981 to 1988 to Palestine refugee graduates of UNRWA vocational training centres.  In 1989 a further nine scholarships were awarded and, up to the time of reporting, a further three were awarded in 1990, while others are pending.

5. In 1989 the Government of Kuwait offered two scholarships Palestine refugee students at the Arab Orphan Committee and two scholarships at the Arab Institute of Al-Quds University, both located in the occupied territory.  The scholarships are for study at Kuwaiti educational institutions.

6. The Government of Switzerland granted $180,000 in 1989 for the provision of university scholarships to Palestine refugee students.  In the year 1989/90 a total of 48 scholarship awards were made under this programme.

7. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) followed up its award of 13 fellowships in the period 1980 to 1988 with the offer of a further award in 1989.

8. The International Maritime Organization (IMO), under its Project RAB/84/028-Arab Maritime Transport Academy (AMTA) located at Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, has, since its inception in 1981, trained more than 290 Palestinians.  It is the intention of IMO to continue to provide such assistance to personnel of the Arab States, including Palestinians, through the Academy (of which PLO is a member).  The Academy in the meantime has become the Regional Maritime Academy for Arab States with branches in Sharjah and Alexandria.  IMO expects that suitably qualified Palestinians will benefit from both branches of the Academy.

9. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), as part of its long-standing agreement with UNRWA, granted 58 fellowships to Palestine refugee education staff of UNRWA in the period 1981 to 1988.  In 1989 two fellowships were awarded.

10. During 1989, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) continued within its sphere of competence to extend assistance for higher education to Palestine refugee students through its project "Specialized Training in Agricultural Development" under which three Palestinian fellows continued their studies since 1986 for post-graduate degrees in Agricultural Economics and Animal Production.  Two successfully completed their studies in 1989.  FAO also provided technical expertise to the Al-Quds Open University in 1988 in the techniques and practices of distance education and in the elaboration of curricula and programmes related to land and community development.  In 1989, a two-man consultancy mission was sent to Amman to prepare a report on Educational Technology Development Communication and Audio-Visual Equipment.

11. The Universal Postal Union (UPU) is, in the period 1986-1994, providing four-year scholarships to two Palestinians for further training in the postal field.  This follows the granting of two scholarships for four-year terms under which two Palestinian students were trained at the Arab Higher Postal Institute in Damascus from 1979-1983.  In 1989, UPU awarded a 12-month scholarship at the Arab Higher Postal Institute in Damascus to a Palestinian student.

12. The World Health Organization (WHO), in a post-graduate training fellowship programme aimed at developing the technical and managerial skills of the staff of UNRWA's Department of Health, and meeting future replacement needs under the various health disciplines, awarded nine regional and international fellowships to Palestine refugee health staff of UNRWA in 1989.  This was further reinforced by the award of three short-term courses to upgrade the qualifications of staff in certain areas.  This followed the award of nine fellowships in 1988, eight in 1987 and five in 1986.

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