Jamalon.com, the largest online book retailer in the Middle East and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) launched an online partnership, the first of its kind for both partners, with the aim of supporting education for more than half a million Palestine refugee children.
Now on Jamalon.com, donors can give their support to Palestine refugee girls and boys by purchasing a ‘Dreams Fly High’ item (tote bags, magnets and bracelets). Proceeds from the sales will go to UNRWA educational programmes for students in Gaza, the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
“My siblings and I all attended UNRWA schools so this partnership was important to us. It enables us to give back and help protect the right of other Palestine refugee children to get an education,” said Jamalon.com co-founder Amer Alsallel. Along with his four brothers and two sisters, Alsallel founded Jamalon in 2010.
“UNRWA’s education programmes have helped millions of Palestine refugees receive access to the skills they need to enter the workforce. Education is a universal right for children worldwide – without an education, one does not enjoy the same chances to live a life in dignity and be successful. For 70 years, UNRWA has worked to protect that right for Palestine refugees,” said Abdirahman Aynte, UNRWA Director of Strategic Partnerships.
The ‘Dreams Fly High’ partnership is part of the Agency’s ongoing efforts to cooperate with private sector partners through its global campaign to raise funding and awareness about crucial UNRWA services to Palestine refugees across the Middle East.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
UNRWA is confronted with an increased demand for services resulting from a growth in the number of registered Palestine refugees, the extent of their vulnerability and their deepening poverty. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions and financial support has been outpaced by the growth in needs. As a result, the UNRWA programme budget, which supports the delivery of core essential services, operates with a large shortfall. UNRWA encourages all Member States to work collectively to exert all possible efforts to fully fund the Agency’s programme budget. UNRWA emergency programmes and key projects, also operating with large shortfalls, are funded through separate funding portals.
UNRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and mandated to provide assistance and protection to some 5.4 million Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA across its five fields of operation. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip achieve their full human development potential, pending a just and lasting solution to their plight. UNRWA services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, protection and microfinance.
For more information, please contact:
Sami Mshasha
Chief of Communications, Arabic Language Spokesperson
Mobile: +972 (0)54 216 8295
Office: +972 (0)258 90724
s.mshasha@unrwa.org