Global Initiative Bi-weekly site updates
August 31st to September 12th, 2025
UNHCR
GENEVA – Cuts to humanitarian and development aid are putting hard-won recent progress in refugee education at risk, warns UNHCR in the tenth edition of its annual Refugee Education Report, published today.
“There have been tremendous efforts to increase enrolment at all levels for refugees,” Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said in the report’s foreword. “But there is still so much more to do.” Strikingly, the report shows a leap forward in tertiary enrolment to 9 per cent, up from 7 per cent last year and well on progress to meet the target of 15 per cent by 2030. Even though more refugee children and youth than ever are getting an education, the continuing rise in the global refugee population is outstripping capacity to educate them and means that nearly half remain out of school.
South Africa
Forced displacement remains a significant development challenge globally. In Southern Africa, the situation is increasingly complex and regional in nature, driven by conflict, insecurity, and extreme weather events such as cyclones, floods, and droughts.
These dynamics affect multiple countries across borders, placing pressure on national systems and host communities. As of May 2025, UNHCR data indicates that 11.5 million people in the region are forcibly displaced, a sharp rise from 8.5 million in 2023. UNHCR’s Sustainable Responses approach is anchored in the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), a framework for more predictable and equitable responsibility-sharing. It recognizes that sustainable solutions to refugee situations cannot be achieved without international cooperation...
Lebanon
280 Syrian refugees voluntarily returned to Syria today through a return movement facilitated by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in collaboration with Lebanon’s General Security.
Refugees gathered at dawn in Beirut, where UNHCR and IOM teams assessed their needs, provided information and counseling, and distributed essential assistance. A convoy of buses and trucks then transported the returnees and their belongings through the Masnaa crossing point, with final destinations in Homs, Hama, and Idlib. far in 2025, over 238,000 Syrians have returned from Lebanon, with more than 114,000 expressing interest in the UN-supported voluntary return programme. To support those choosing to return, UNHCR and IOM have scaled-up assistance to ensure the process is safe, dignified and sustainable. This includes the provision of cash assistance, legal counseling, and transportation.
That’s the message from Kelly Clements, Deputy High Commissioner with the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, speaking on Tuesday after concluding a five-day visit to Lebanon and Syria. “The international community cannot afford to be mere observers, assessing and judging the developments in Syria,” she said.
“They must take an active role supporting stabilization and recovery efforts, helping Syrians rebuild and reshape their country.” More than 1.2 million people have returned to Syria since the fall of the Assad regime last December. Roughly 850,000 have crossed back from Lebanon and elsewhere in the region. UNHCR has scaled up support to those choosing to return, including by providing money and transportation, to ensure the process is dignified and sustainable. Meanwhile, returns continue inside Syria, with more than 1.7 million internally displaced people (IDPs), including just over 880,000 individuals who have departed from IDP sites in the north.
Kenya
Approximately 98,115 registered refugees (plus an unknown number of unregistered refugees) live across Kenya’s cities and urban areas.2 With the majority of development and humanitarian assistance targeting camp-based refugees, which account for the majority of Kenya’s refugees and asylum seekers, those living in urban environments commonly face gaps in support for meeting their basic needs and accessing social protection options and livelihood opportunities.
As refugee populations are dispersed within cities and often reluctant to come forward out of fear of legal repercussions, data on their profiles and opportunities is relatively scarce. To address this challenge, the ILO carried out a market systems assessment (MSA) based on the Approach to Inclusive Market Systems (AIMS) in which social protection considerations were streamlined. The report’s findings, outlined in this brief, shed light on the profiles of urban refugees, the sectors where they work or have potential to find decent livelihood opportunities, the key constraints currently limiting their inclusion, and the possible ways to tackle these.
Rwanda
50,000 scholarships could be awarded to Rwandan students over the next five years, thanks to an agreement signed on Monday, September 8, between the Ministry of Education and WorldQuant University, a global institution that offers free online programmes.
The students will have opportunities to study in fields such as Financial Engineering, Data Science, and Artificial Intelligence, the ministry said on Tuesday. “This collaboration aims to expand educational opportunities, promote excellence in quantitative disciplines, and create pathways for internships, mentorships, and career advancement,” reads the statement. The US-based WorldQuant University is accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC). According to its website, the university has students in over 150 countries who are enrolled in its Master of Science in Financial Engineering Program and Applied Labs.
Vietnam
Decree No. 201/2025/ND-CP regulating the functions, tasks and powers of the National University replaces Decree No. 186/2013/ND-CP dated November 17, 2013 of the Government on the National University.
According to this Decree, the National University is a public higher education institution managed by the Ministry of Education and Training, has legal status, has its own account and uses a seal with the national emblem. The National University has the function of training at all levels of higher education, scientific research and high-quality multidisciplinary and multi-field technology transfer; some training fields are leading in the country and highly ranked in the world. The National University is under the state management of the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Science and Technology , other ministries, branches and People's Committees at all levels where the National University is located according to the provisions of law.
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