UN refugee agency, TECNO renew support for African refugee children's education

NAIROBI, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Africa's leading smartphone brand TECNO announced on Tuesday the renewal of its partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to boost education for refugee children living in Africa.

The partnership between UNHCR and TECNO was initially inked in 2020 to support the implementation of a global program in primary education Educate A Child to ensure Africa's refugee children realize their rights to education.

Under the renewed partnership, 10,670 refugee children in Kenya and Uganda will benefit from enhanced access to quality education in 2021.

Tecno will make financial contribution to the Educate A Child program to help holistic interventions like improvement of school infrastructure, provision of learning materials to students, training of teachers and support for refugee students with special needs.

Vivian Tan, UNHCR's representative ad interim in China, hailed support from TECNO, saying it will boost academic excellence for refugee children grappling with COVID-19 related disruptions.

"Support from our private sector partners like TECNO is critical for UNHCR to continue to strengthen our efforts to support refugee learners and students to continue their education in this difficult time, and in the post-COVID time," Tan said in a statement released in Nairobi.

She said that financial and technical support from the Chinese private sector is critical to help address gaps in access to quality education for refugee children globally.

Stephen Ha, general manager of TECNO, said the renewed partnership with UNHCR will help improve learning outcomes for refugee children in Africa.

"In the post COVID-time, we will amplify our efforts, especially using digital solutions to increase educational opportunity and enhance education quality for children in Africa so that they could receive better education and be better connected with the world," said Ha.

At the height of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 when schools were closed, TECNO donated tablets to support remote learning for refugee children in Kenya besides availing 50,000 medical face masks to UNHCR Kenya to boost response to the pandemic.

In 2020, TECNO's support to Educate A Child program has benefitted children in Dadaab refugee camp located in northeastern Kenyan county of Garissa through provision of textbooks and other learning kit.

Uganda and Kenya are amongst the world's top host countries for refugees. It is hoped that a strengthened partnership between UNHCR and TECNO will facilitate safe reopening of schools catering for refugee children in Africa while laying the foundation for them to pursue higher education in the future.