European Union grants €1.1 million for scholarships to Palestine refugee students in Lebanon – UNRWA press release

The European Union grants €1.1 million for scholarships

to Palestine refugee students in Lebanon

Beirut – The European Union, through its “EU Scholarship Fund for Palestine Refugees in Lebanon” project, has donated € 1.1 million towards scholarships for 54 Palestine refugee students starting October 2005 and continuing until their graduation.

These scholarships will give qualified Palestine refugee students the opportunity to pursue higher education at universities in Lebanon, thereby enhancing their chances of finding employment.

UNRWA received 299 applications, of which 193 were eligible. The top 54 students who met the criteria will now be able to pursue degree programs at Lebanese University, Arab University, Hawai University and Lebanese International University.

The scholarships were granted in a range of programs, including engineering, graphic design, biology, sciences, business administration, accounting, and nursing. All scholarships cover the university tuition fees in full, as well as other education-related expenditures.

The European Union is UNRWA’s leading donor and has a long history of supporting UNRWA through its regular budget, emergency appeals and special projects. In addition to the €1.1 million granted for scholarships, the EU has contributed approximately €4 million under a project entitled “Improvement of employability of young Palestinian refugees in Lebanon” to UNRWA Lebanon and five NGOs to improve the quality of vocational training over a period of three years.

During the academic year 2005-2006, the Agency has sponsored 31 additional scholarships funded by other sources. These sources include the IDRC, in the amount of $500,000 for 24 scholarships, and Japan, with $100,000 for 7 scholarships. These scholarships are earmarked for female students. All in all, the Education Programme in Lebanon is currently administering five scholarship programmes, sponsoring 236 Palestine refugee students.

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