RefEd

Changemaker: Yasmin Morais

Country of Implementation: Greece

In 2017, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has estimated that 4 million refugee children did not have access to education. Lack of education has caused refugees to enter the workplace at an early age, to have reduced access to opportunities and to deepen migration-related trauma, among other consequences. At the same time, the UNHCR has seen technology as "one of the most exciting opportunities to provide education for refugees yet".

To take advantage of the growing potential to connect refugees with technology and education, Global Changemaker Yasmin and her colleagues at Boston University and at the Lebanese International University have created RefEd, an educational application designed to reduce the gap of access to education among refugee children.

After facing several challenges, the RefEd team was able to develop a pilot app with more than 160 problems, 35 video lessons and 4 animated and diverse characters to guide students through learning on the platform. In the summer of 2019, with the help from GCM, they were able to implement their idea with 150 refugee children in Athens, Greece. Children were able to continue their education as migrants, and received encouragement to believe that education can change their future for the better!