New Support for Increased Financial Inclusion of Refugee Scholarship Students
shaheennews
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Jubilee Centre for Excellence in Education (JCEE), formally launched a new endeavour to support refugee scholarship students and enhance financial inclusion for refugees living in Jordan. The event took place at Darat Alfunoon/Jabal Al-Lweibdeh. UNHCR’s partner, JCEE, supports refugee students in Jordan studying through the Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative, also known as DAFI. For the first time, DAFI scholars will now be able to receive their education stipends through an E-Wallet medium, supported by Mahfazati. Alia Halawah, a student from Syria currently studying in Jordan, welcomed this initiative saying: “As a beneficiary from the E-wallet service, I think this is a step in the pathway towards the future we all want; as we are coping with global development. This service will ease our lives, and reduce the effort and time we used to pay in getting our pocket money. On behalf of DAFI students, I would like to thank you for offering us this service”. UNHCR Representative, Stefano Severe, also praised this initiative, saying, “I am happy to see the harnessing of technology for assistance through the launch of mobile wallets for refugee university students. The mobile wallets will allow students to exercise greater financial control over their stipends and provide access to a convenient payment modality. The use of mobile wallets is a significant step towards the financial inclusion of refugees in accessing digital financial services.” Since 1992, UNHCR’s higher education scholarship programme, DAFI, has played an integral role in enabling refugees worldwide to access higher education. DAFI students in Jordan were prioritized as a pilot for the mobile money transfers given their high literacy, technological savviness and willingness to experiment with an innovative payment platform which would facilitate the payment modality of their stipends. There are currently nearly 650 refugee students studying in Jordanian Universities through the DAFI programme. “Since the beginning of DAFI programme, we were particularly taking care of refugee students who are benefiting from this scholarship and providing them with the best educational services to fulfil their dreams in getting their academic degree. DAFI also creates a suitable environment for students to develop their skills. Furthermore, we were attentive to facilitate DAFI services and save students’ time and efforts”, Ismail Yaseen, JCEE Manager.
