Egyptian and Liverpool footballer, Mohamed Salah, has become the first ambassador for Instant Network Schools as the program prepares to expand into his home country of Egypt for the first time.
According to the statement released by UNHCR, Salah will support the programme through public appearances at schools participating in the initiative.
The statement said further that, the ambassador will also raise awareness of the need and importance of quality education for refugee children.
At the launch of the event, Salah said “Being an ambassador for this project makes me proud. Education gives you a much better chance in life. Once you have that, no one can take it from you.”
Andrew Dunett, Vodafone’s Group Director of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) said, “Over 50 percent of the world’s 70.8 million displaced people are children and they can spend their entire schooling in refugee camps with limited access to a quality education.”
“Mohamed Salah shares our passion about the importance of education as a pivotal building block for personal and societal development and will help us to promote and expand the Instant Network Schools Programme,” he added.
Instant Network School was setup in 2103 by UNHCR – the refugee Agency – and Vodafone to give young refugees, host communities and their teachers’ access to digital learning content and the internet, improving the quality of education in some of the marginalized communities in Africa.
As of this year, 20 new Instant Network Schools will be launched with some opening in Salah’s native Egypt for the first time.
