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Worldwide
The power of education: How UNHCR is helping refugee children build brighter futures
On International Day of Education, find out how learning creates opportunities for displaced children.
Worldwide
On International Day of Education, find out how learning creates opportunities for displaced children.
Across the world, UNHCR works to ensure refugee children and young people can access quality education.
Education offers a stable and safe environment for displaced children, helping them pursue productive, meaningful lives and rebuild their communities.
Here are five stories that showcase the positive change that comes from empowering refugees and displaced people through education.
Arash, 7, is studying English at the Youth Learning Centre in Bamyan, Afghanistan. Like many children in the area, he comes to the centre to develop his language skills and expand his opportunities for the future.
Despite the cold climate and limited resources in Bamyan, the centre provides a safe space for children to rebuild their lives and continue learning. Built by UNHCR, the community-run centre offers classes that help hundreds of students continue learning when access to schooling is limited.
For displaced children like Arash, the classroom is more than a place to learn a new language. It is a place where curiosity, confidence and hope can grow.
Tololinda is a South Sudanese refugee attending a UNHCR-supported school in Kalobeyei settlement, Kenya. She believes education has changed how she sees herself.
“After learning here, I realised that as a girl, I can go far,” she says.
Learning alongside students from different backgrounds has also shaped Tololinda’s sense of belonging and equality. For her, education is not only about books and exams, but about growing together and breaking down divisions.
Tololinda dreams of becoming South Sudan’s Minister of Education so she can help girls access quality education.
“If you educate a girl, it is like you educate the whole nation,” says Tololinda.
She hopes her story will help the world see refugees differently.
“Refugees are not just refugees,” she says. “They have voices and a future they want to build.”
Refugee and local teenagers are taking part in a sewing class at a school in Tacna, Peru, using machines donated by UNHCR. The classes give students practical, hands-on skills while creating new pathways into education and future livelihoods.
Their textile tailoring teacher, Gisela Valencia, welcomed the support from UNHCR.
“It’s a dream come true for my students. Before, we only had two machines, so most of them didn’t have the chance to use them directly, something they can now do,” she says. “This will help them learn the tailoring trade, and in the future, they will be able to contribute an extra income to their families.”
Peru hosts more than 1.6 million Venezuelan refugees and asylum seekers. Last year, UNHCR donated sewing machines, laptops and classroom equipment to expand education and livelihood opportunities for refugee and local youth.
Twelve-year-old Tareq is a Syrian refugee living in Za’atari refugee camp, Jordan, with his family. A Year 6 student, he attends after-school literacy classes to strengthen his learning and improve his performance at school.
Za’atari refugee camp is home to a large population of Syrian refugees and is managed by UNHCR in partnership with the Government of Jordan. Within the camp, refugees launched a literacy program in 2021 to support younger generations in developing reading and writing skills. The program helps build knowledge and confidence so students can succeed at school.
For Tareq, the classes have made a real difference.
“Learning to read and write helped me succeed in school and get higher grades,” he says.
Seven-year-old Melissa and eight-year-old Fele, both refugees from the Central African Republic, love to go to school because they get to play and write with their friends.
“When I grow up, I want to be a teacher,” Melissa says.
“I want to be a surgeon,” Fele says. “I want to help people get better.”
Their classroom is in Gado-Badzéré, in Cameroon’s East region, which hosts thousands of refugees who have fled violence in the Central African Republic. Public schools in surrounding villages welcome large numbers of refugee children alongside local students, placing pressure on classrooms, teachers and learning materials.
UNHCR works closely with education partners to help refugee children in Cameroon access primary education in safe, supportive environments. In mixed classrooms across the region, students from refugee and host communities learn and play side by side, building understanding and stronger societies for the future.
