The government of Belgium’s generous support to education in emergencies gives Gaza children a voice

“You hear my voice, you hear that sound, like thunder gonna shake your ground…’Cause I am a champion, and you’re gonna hear me roar!” sing the Gaza teens at the UNRWA Asma School for Girls (A) over a patchy broadband connection to their peers in Brussels. Students from the Athenee Bruxelles School II are inspired to join in by voicing the Katy Perry pop-song lyrics. The online exchange is part of the My Voice-My School education project, which empowers Palestine refugee children by giving them a voice and an opportunity to communicate with their peers overseas.

Gazan and Belgian students are among the 300 young people participating in these virtual exchanges, which involve fifteen schools in Gaza, Syria, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Norway. For most of the Gaza UNRWA students, this is the first time they meet ‘foreigners’. Paired with overseas partner schools, they are working to advocate for the right of every child to a quality education, wherever they are.

Today, the Gaza girls are presenting the results of surveys they have designed and carried out on improving education in their school to their peers in Belgium. The class has identified noise as a factor affecting students’ education. There is a loud generator which provides electricity to the school. The generator makes up for Gaza’s debilitating power cuts, which can last between 12 and 22 hours per day. These have been caused by the destruction of infrastructure wrought by three deadly conflicts and a decade-long blockade.

Tarneem’s class in Gaza has come up with a renewable energy idea to solve this problem: “We could use solar panels to produce clean energy instead of the generator.” The class believes that finding ways to reduce noise will improve the learning environment for students in one of most densely populated places on earth.

Student voice forms part of the innovative UNRWA Education in Emergencies (EiE) programme, which aims to ensure that the most vulnerable Palestine refugee children and youth are not left behind in times of emergencies. During times of crisis, the EiE programme provides students with alternative learning spaces and interactive self-learning materials so that they can continue learning, even when they cannot attend school regularly.

The EiE programme also works to ensure physical and emotional wellbeing of students and education staff, through employing psychosocial support counsellors, providing recreational activities, and delivering safety and security training. Crucially, the EiE programme engages students, parents and the community in supporting quality education in emergencies. Here, the My Voice-My School exchanges give some of the 262,000 Palestine refugee students in Gaza a voice to articulate what quality education means to them and provide them with some respite from their isolation.

For Khaled at the UNRWA Zaitoun Prep Boys “A” School, this is his first time he has the chance to practice his English. Speaking slowly through the laptop, he explains to his peers at GO! Atheneum Etterbeek, Belgium, that classroom repairs and new furniture are among the factors that contribute to quality education. In response, Syrene in Belgium asks, “I think the student council should do something, they can really help… Is there someone in the class who participates in the student council?” Hearing the question, one of Khaled’s classmates identifies himself as a school parliamentarian and healthy debate ensues about how students can get involved in supporting quality education.

It is thanks to Belgium’s support to EiE that Tarneem and Khaled can access safe education with a window onto the world. Belgium’s EUR 5 million, distributed over a two-year funding cycle, has been critical to keeping the UNRWA EiE programme afloat. Thanks to Belgium, these students can communicate across borders and have the chance to champion a better education for all. The classes will meet for a final time in January 2018, where they will be able to share and celebrate their advocacy projects. To attend a session, please contact UNRWA Spokesperson Chris Gunness.

Original source: UNRWA
Published on 11 January 2018