Palestine refugees – Higher education – 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 40/165 D of 16 December 1985.

2. The report includes the substance of responses from Member States and specialized agencies to the appeal contained in the above-mentioned resolution, together with reference to further action taken by Member States and specialized agencies in response to the appeal contained in the General Assembly resolution 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, 37/20 D of 16 December 1982, 38/83 D of 15 December 1983 and 39/99 D of 14 December 1984. By these resolutions the Assembly appealed to all States, specialised agencies and non-governmental organisations to make 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 expand 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. The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany offered three fellowships to Palestine refugee graduates of UNRWA vocational training centres in 1986, and all three were accepted.  In the period from 1981 to 1985, a total of 21 fellowships were awarded to Palestine refugee graduates from Jordan, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

4. In 1986, the Government of Japan offered 15 training scholarships to UNRWA's vocational training instructors.  As at 29 August 1986, eight candidates had been proposed for the scholarships which are tenable in Japan and are under the guidance of the Japan International Co-operation Agency.  In 1985, five similar scholarships were provided for training in Japan, which took place in the latter half of the year.  In addition, in 1986 the Government of Japan has proposed sending up to three specialists to the Wadi Seer Training Centre in Jordan to give on-the-job training to UNRWA instructors in auto-mechanics and diesel engine courses.

5. The  World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) followed up its awards of 12 fellowships in the period from 1980 to 1985 with a further offer of fellowships for 1986.

6. The Universal Postal Union (UPU) granted two scholarships to Palestinian students for four-year terms commencing in 1979, under which they received long-term training at the Arab Higher Postal Institute in Damascus.  In 1986, UPU announced its decision to resume assistance by granting scholarships for further training in the postal field to two Palestinian students.  The first scholarship will be applied to the study cycle from October 1986 to September 1990.

7. The international Labour Organisation (ILO) has earmarked an additional sum for the purpose of financing, during the biennium 1986-1987, projects of technical assistance for the populations of the occupied territories as had been done during previous bienniums.  In this context, a training programme entitled "Management of training institutions" was implemented in 1985 at the ILO's International Centre for advanced technical and vocational training in Turin.  Nine specialists in vocational training from occupied Arab territories took part in the ten-weeks' training course.  The ILO has indicated that scholarships for training in hygiene and safety will be granted in 1986.  The ILO has, within the framework of its collaboration in the implementation of the UNDP programme of assistance to the Palestinian people, put at the disposal of UNDP an expert in vocational training for women, within a project aimed at promoting vocational training possibilities through women's institutions and Palestinian community development centres.

8. The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), as part of its long-standing agreement with UNRWA, granted 3 fellowships in 1981, 9 in 1982, 9 in 1983, 9 in 1984 and 11 in 1985 to Palestine refugee education staff of UNRWA for special courses of training in overseas countries.  Candidates for such fellowships in 1986 have been proposed to UNESCO and it is expected that the fellowships will be awarded later in the year.

9. The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is the executing agency of a project the objective of which is to assist Palestinian crop and livestock farmers/producers in the localities of Gilline and Ramadan in the Syrian Arab Republic to improve their productivity and efficiency by providing facilities, knowledge, skills, material inputs and technical leadership for demonstration and training work.

10. The World Health Organisation (WHO), through its Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO), granted five fellowships to UNRWA Palestine refugee medical staff for special one-year training courses in public health administration, community health and public health nursing. These courses were held in Lebanon, Egypt and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.  In addition, WHO/EMRO granted 45 fellowships to Palestine refugee staff for two-week training courses and workshops covering a variety of public health problems.

11. Fellowships granted by non-governmental organisations to Palestine refugees, as reported by UNRWA, include two 10-month fellowships for study of community nursing granted by the Australian People for Health, Education and Development; a one-year fellowship for postgraduate study in water and waste engineering, granted by the British Council; a 27-month fellowship in midwifery, granted by Medical Aid for Palestinians; and a one-year scholarship in public health nursing, granted by the British Save the Children Fund.

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*A/41/150.