Successful Pre – pilot of the UNESCO qualifications passport for refugees and vulnerable migrants – in Meheba Settlement in Zambia
In recent years, the refugee crisis has seen only 3 % of eligible refugees gaining access to higher education. The lack of recognition of prior learning and of qualifications has been identified as one of the chief obstacles faced by refugees and vulnerable migrants when applying for access to higher education or seeking employment opportunities.
The UNESCO qualifications passport (UQP) is a modern universal tool to facilitate the mobility of refugees with qualifications and is envisaged to be used for migrants around the globe. It aims at increasing access for refugees and vulnerable immigrants to higher education and employment opportunities through the recognition of prior learning and qualifications.
Zambia has a refugee population of more than 80,000 refugees, mainly young individuals originating from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Angola, Rwanda and Somalia. To address this reality, the Zambian authorities welcomed UNESCO’s proposal to conduct a pre-pilot of the UQP during the final quarter of 2019.
With the support of the Zambia Qualifications Authority (ZAQA), the Zambia Ministry of Higher Education, the Zambian Commissioner for Refugees (COR), Norwegian ENIC-NARIC (NOKUT), and UNHCR in Zambia, UNESCO tested the UQP methodology with a first assessment session during the last week of October 2019 at the Meheba refugee settlement in Zambia. The assessment session included training of local credential evaluators from ZAQA by NOKUT Specialists, interviews with identified refugees at the Meheba settlement, which lead to, the analysis of qualifications, and ultimately the issuance of the first UNESCO Qualifications Passports.
From 61 applications, 29 potential candidates were interviewed and the qualifications of 11 candidates were substantiated. On December 11 2019, 11 refugees were issued with the UNESCO Qualifications Passport (UQP). The ZAQA Director and CEO, Mrs. Mirriam Chiyaba, the Commissioner for Refugees Mr. Abdon Mawere, the UNHCR Country Representative Mrs. Pierrine Aylara and the Kalumbila District Commissioner, Mr. Robinson Kalota, awarded the UQP to the successful candidates.
Issued by
Mulenga Kasase (Ms.)
Information Education Communications Specialist
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