25 refugee students in Sudan win DAFI scholarships in 2014

Khartoum, Sudan, 11 November 2014 (UNHCR): The Federal Republic of Germany, through its Embassy in Khartoum, awarded higher education scholarships to 25 refugee students in Sudan through the Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative Fund, known as DAFI (Deutsche Akademische Flüchtlings initiative Albert Einstein).
Under the DAFI programme for 2014, 17 young women and 8 young men who have been amongst the best students of their schools will be receiving full learning scholarship, including tuition fees, registration fees, rental allowance, transportation allowance, learning materials, substance living allowance, medical referral and treatment allowance and local travel allowance. The 25 laureates were selected amongst 140 applicants, by a joint committee composed of representatives from the German Embassy in Sudan, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Sudan’s Commission for Refugees (COR), Windle Trust International and refugee schools in Sudan. They received their scholarships during an award ceremony organized by the German Embassy on 8 November.
“We are extremely grateful to the German Government for continuously supporting refugees’ access to higher education. The DAFI scholarship
programme offers unique opportunities for bright refugee students to pursue their studies and develop skills that will help them cope with their situation. Refugees with higher education are more likely to attain self-reliance, self- confidence and can hope for a better future for them and their families”, UNHCR Representative in Sudan, Mr. Mohammed Adar, says.
During the ceremony, Mr. Philipp Herzog, Deputy Head of Mission at the German Embassy, congratulated the refugee students who have won the scholarships and encouraged them to use of this opportunity to gain professional skills for the benefit of their communities.
“The DAFI scholarship is something very special. It is the named after Albert Einstein, a German-born theoretical physicist and winner of the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics, who was a refugee himself. I wish you all the success in the various

fields of knowledge you have chosen”, Mr. Herzog says.
The winners of this year DAFI Scholarships are now enrolled in eight Sudanese colleges and universities. They will attend courses in management, information technology and systems, engineering, medicine, computer sciences, biochemistry, social studies, and health sciences.
“I dedicate this success to my father, who motivated and inspired me, and to the members of the Eritrean Refugee School in Port Sudan, as well as to the people of Port Sudan who embraced me as a refugee”, Ms. Feven Abebe, a laureate Eritrean refugee student, says. Ms. Abebe ranked first at the Higher Secondary Examinations of Sudan for commercial section and has just started her first
semester at the Faculty of Management at the University of Ahfad for Women in Khartoum.
Ms. Luwam Tasfai, another recipient of the scholarship who has just enrolled in medical studies at Ahfad University, said she is very committed to serve the Eritrean refugee community in Kassala.
In total, 1,336 refugee students in Sudan have benefited from the DAFI Scholarships since its inception in 1993. The overall objective of DAFI is to contribute to the promotion of self-reliance of refugees by providing them with a professional qualification geared towards future employment. More generally, the DAFI Programme aims at contributing to the development of qualified human resources needed in the future reconstruction of refugees' home countries.
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For more information please contact Mr. Mohamed El-Naiem, Assistant Public Information Officer, UNHCR Khartoum Tel: +249 183 471 101, Cell: : +249 9123 08842 , Email: mailto:[email protected]@UNHCR.ORG

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