Transsion Holdings supports UNHCR’s global education project

Shenzhen Transsion Holdings Co., Ltd. and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced today that they have reached a new partnership. Transsion and its mobile phone brand TECNO support the UNHCR global education project, Educate A Child (EAC), which aims to improve the educational conditions of refugee children in Africa and give them more opportunities to receive education.

Transsion Holdings joins hands with UNHCR to support African children’s education

Since 2012, UNHCR has been actively promoting the "EAC" project around the world to provide high-quality basic education for refugee children. In 2020, the first phase of the project between TRANSSION and UNHCR will be launched in Kenya. Through cooperation with UNHCR, TRANSSION Holdings will help more than 6,700 children from the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya improve their education status, provide financial support for basic needs such as textbooks, study and examination funds, and school uniforms, and encourage them to obtain opportunities for higher education through continuous learning.

The Dadaab refugee camp was established by the Kenyan government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 1991. It mainly accepts Somali refugees displaced by civil war, as well as refugees from the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes region. The Dadaab refugee camp is currently one of the largest refugee camps in the world.

On the eve of World Refugee Day on June 20, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees released its annual Global Trends Report. According to the report, 79.5 million people worldwide have been forced to flee their homes and about 3.7 million school-age children are out of school. Compared with the global primary school enrollment rate of 91%, the primary school enrollment rate for refugee children is only 63%. In Africa, there are a large number of refugees who have been forced to flee their homes due to conflict, violence and persecution, and there is a huge gap in basic education for African refugee children.

Transsion Holdings joins hands with UNHCR to support African children’s education

Education is a basic human right, and it is especially precious to refugee children who have suffered from disasters and displacement. Education protects refugee children from violence, exploitation, child marriage, sexual and gender-based violence, and gives them knowledge and skills to help them become self-reliant. Education will also inspire refugee children to understand themselves and the world, strengthen their confidence in independence, and inspire them to fight to rebuild their lives and communities. Ensuring that these children who are forced to flee their homes are not deprived of the opportunity to receive an education is crucial to their lives and future. Investment in the education of African refugee children will pay off with a stronger, sustainable and peaceful future for Africa.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the studies of nearly 1.6 billion children and adolescents around the world, and the need for education has become more urgent. During the pandemic, it is crucial to maintain the learning activities of displaced refugee children and protect them from the threat of dropping out of school. Under the current partnership, Transsion has also pledged to donate a batch of TECNO  tablets to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 2020 to help children in Kenyan refugee camps affected by the COVID-19 pandemic continue to study.

Sivanka Dhanapala, UNHCR Representative in China, expressed gratitude for Transsion Holdings' support. He said: "Investing in education is one of the best ways to solve the refugee problem. Qualified primary education can help refugee children overcome the difficulties they encounter during displacement. The private sector plays a key role in solving the global refugee education crisis. Companies can provide financial support for refugee education projects, as well as employment and vocational training opportunities, such as internships, mentoring, career planning and even job opportunities. I am very pleased to see Transsion Holdings' commitment to investing in the education of African refugee children, especially during the current global crisis of COVID-19, to ensure that refugee children have equal opportunities to learn knowledge and skills."

Mr. Harle, General Manager of Transsion Holdings Business Unit, said: "As a Chinese technology company deeply rooted in Africa, Transsion Holdings started in Africa and has been committed to coexisting and win-win with the local society for many years, continuously creating more social value for Africa. Africa is the youngest continent in the world. The future of African children will be the future of the African continent, and these children who have lost the opportunity to receive education are often the most vulnerable and marginalized. We hope to contribute to the cause of basic education in Africa through cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and arouse more people to pay attention to African refugee children and the future of the African continent."

Dadaab refugee camp, Kenya

In addition to funding the UNHCR's refugee children's education project, Transsion Holdings will also use its own resources to fulfill more social responsibilities and encourage local employees in Kenya to actively contribute their time, knowledge and skills to the education of African refugee children. Transsion Holdings will explore more cooperation possibilities with the UNHCR, and through TECNO's strong brand appeal in Africa, guide more people to understand and participate in supporting the education of African refugee children, and help refugee children realize their pursuit of the future and dreams. As the cooperation between the two parties deepens, Transsion Holdings will work with the UNHCR to expand the project to more African countries, and use corporate power to support the education of African children.

In addition, Transsion Holdings has pledged to donate 50,000 masks to help Kenyan refugee camps with limited medical resources fight the epidemic together with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. This assistance will strengthen the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' epidemic prevention and control work in refugee camps, reduce the risk of transmission, and ensure that vulnerable refugees, asylum seekers and host communities in Kenya have access to appropriate health care services.