“All people have a right to a future. For us, it is obvious to invest in education for refugees, as they are all too often excluded from the academic world. An education makes it possible for the most vulnerable to have the chance to reach their goals and dreams”, says Dimitri Haid, Chairman of the Clas Ohlson Foundation.
Many who have been forced to leave their homes are without opportunities for schooling. When children and young people go to school, their chances of creating a brighter future for themselves and their families increase. Through UNHCR’s scholarship programme “Aiming higher”, young refugees are given the opportunity to receive higher education at university or college.
The collaboration between Sweden for UNHCR and the Clas Ohlson Foundation makes it possible for two scholarship holders to complete four-year programs. It is an effort that will make a real difference.
Esther is studying commerce at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. She is one of the students granted a scholarship for higher studies by UNHCR. “I don’t know what my life would have been like without this opportunity,” she says.
Photo: UNHCR/Antoine Tardy