UC Davis' Article 26 Backpack Digital Human Rights Tool Expands to Rwanda
"Higher education is a human right and among the most effective tools to ensure the social, economic and political inclusion of displaced peoples and refugees. Quality education for all is also a core United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), a set of 17 goals adopted by all UN member states aiming to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.
However, the United Nations estimates that only five percent of university-eligible refugees have access to that basic human right through higher education. Among the many barriers and forms of discrimination they face as they seek to begin or continue their studies is the loss of critical academic documents and the ability to connect effectively with universities, scholarships and employment opportunities.
With the support of the Mastercard Foundation, UC Davis, in collaboration with the Rwandan-based educational NGO, Kepler, has embarked on a project to learn how the UC Davis Article 26 Backpack can help empower refugees to overcome those barriers in Rwanda and elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa. Developed in 2018, Article 26 Backpack is a joint project of UC Human Rights Studies and UC Davis Global Affairs. The multi-lingual tool keeps critical academic and other documents safe, fosters educational and employment mobility, and builds solidarity across different refugee communities through its secure sharing capabilities."