Saïd Foundation

About the partnership

Since: 2011

Locations: Jordan and Lebanon

Since 2011, the Saïd Foundation has supported UNHCR’s work with Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon.

From 2014, the Saïd Foundation has focused on supporting UNHCR’s work to improve refugees’ access to accredited quality tertiary education through its support of the DAFI scholarship programme, which offers qualified refugee students the possibility to earn an undergraduate degree in their country of asylum.

In 2014, the Saïd Foundation helped expand the DAFI scholarship programme into Lebanon and increased the number of scholarship recipients in Jordan. In their first year they have offered scholarships to 99 Syrian refugees, giving them a greater chance of becoming self-reliant and positive change-makers in their communities.

Since then, the Saïd Foundation has continued to respond to the tertiary education needs of Syrian refugees, awarding over 400 DAFI scholarships and agreeing to fund a second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth cohorts of Syrian refugee students in Jordan and Lebanon.

The third and fourth cohorts were supported by the Saïd Foundation, jointly with the Asfari Foundation and the Hands Up Foundation.

In December 2019, the Saïd Foundation participated in the first Global Refugee Forum and pledged further support to UNHCR's DAFI Scholarship Programme to support an additional 41 students (20 from Jordan and 21 from Lebanon).

This partnership is working towards achieving the tertiary education targets outlined in UNHCR’s 2030 Education strategy, which builds on the Global Compact on Refugees in its commitment to the principle of inclusion and responsibility-sharing where refugee children have a right to be included in the national education systems of their host countries.

Human Interest Story: Refugee, Pharmacist and UNHCR DAFI Scholar tells her story.

Impact at a glance

• As the largest private donor to the DAFI programme, the Saïd Foundation has supported six cohorts of students, enabling over 400 Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan to complete their university education.
• A university scholarship is a life-changing opportunity not just to the students but to their families as well, giving them the skills and tools to contribute to their host community and help rebuild their country.

Sustainable Development Goals in focus

• SDG4 Quality Education
• SDG17 Partnerships for the Goals