Roland Friedrich
Today, some 46,000 Palestine refugee children will be starting the school year in @UNRWA schools across the #WestBank. Amid heightened violence and displacement, our schools provide safe havens for children to learn, delivering both quality education and support for their wellbeing. This time last year, I marked the beginning of the new school year with children in #JeninCamp. Now, those same students have been forcibly displaced from their homes and UNRWA schools in the camp stand silent. Of the 30,000+ Palestinians displaced in the northern West Bank, more than one in three are children from Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams camps. In parallel in #EastJerusalem – for the first time in our history – UNRWA has been obstructed from opening our six schools after they were forcibly shuttered by Israeli authorities in May, affecting some 800 children. Only some of these students have been able to enrol in other schools. This not only disregards the #RightToEducation of Palestine refugee children, but violates Israel’s obligations as a @UN member state. Regardless, UNRWA continues to be the second-largest provider of education in the West Bank after the Palestinian Authority, reaching students through schools, training centres, and hybrid learning modalities. This #BackToSchool, we are proud of our students and teachers who continue to show resilience in the face of hardship. We wish all children a school year filled with excitement for learning, friendships, and curiosity.
