UN applauds donation by Malala Yousafzai for reconstruction of Gaza schools
According to a news statement released on Wednesday by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Yousafzai made the announcement as she accepted the prestigious World Children's Prize in Stockholm, Sweden, commending UNRWA's “heroic work” in helping the Palestinian children and noting that the needs in the Palestinian territory were “overwhelming.”
“We must all work to ensure Palestinian boys and girls, and all children everywhere, receive a quality education in a safe environment. Because without education, there will never be peace.” Yousafzai said.
The Nobel Laureate noted that the $50,000 donation would help towards the rebuilding of the 65 schools damaged during the recent 51-day conflict which saw entire neighbourhoods flattened and almost one-third of Gaza's population uprooted.
The violence killed more than 2,100 Palestinians, including more than 500 children, and more than 70 Israelis.
UNRWA Commissioner General Pierre Krähenbühl commended the donation, saying the UN was “deeply touched” by the gesture and that it would “lift the spirits” of a quarter of a million UNRWA students and “boost the morale” of the more than 9,000 teaching staff there. In addition, he praised Yousafzai for her personal courage and her role as “a symbol of the boundless potential that lies within each and every child on Earth.”
“UNRWA shares with you the profound belief in the importance of education as a means to lift young girls and boys out of isolation, exclusion or oppression,” Krähenbühl continued.
“Acquiring skills and knowledge to improve prospects for the future is profoundly engrained in the Palestinian consciousness.”
Following the devastation wrought by the conflict, UNRWA announced it is providing food, water and sanitation services to over 40,000 displaced people in 18 of its installations, psycho-social support particularly for children, cash grants to the homeless for rent, as well as urgent repairs to a total of 118 UNRWA installations.
Malala Yousafzai. UN Photo/JC McIlwaine
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
