The Islamic University of Gaza is a partner of UNESCO chair for a programme in Refugee integration through languages and the Arts.
UNESCO has approved the establishment of a Chair and programme of work at the University of Glasgow, with partners in Ghana and Gaza, in Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts. From the 1st January 2017, Prof Alison Phipps will be taking up this position and developing a programme of work over the next 4 years which extends some of the arts work of the project in these contexts and with partners Dr. Nazmi Al-Masri, representing IUG, as well as with Gameli and Tawona as artists in residence.
The purpose of the UNESCO Chair is to promote an integrated system of research, training, information and documentation on how the integration of refugees into new communities can be promoted through languages and the arts. The UNESCO Chair will bring together internationally-recognised researchers in this field from across the University as well as other institutions in the United Kingdom, in Africa, the Arab States region, as well as in other regions of the world.
The University of Glasgow’s Professor Alison Phipps will lead this activity as the UNESCO Chair holder. Professor Phipps, who is Professor of Languages and Intercultural Studies, in the School of Education and Co-convener of GRAMNet – the Glasgow Refugee and Asylum Migration Network, said:
“The endowment of this Chair by UNESCO will allow us to extend our work significantly with a focus on the protection of living culture. It will allow us to develop multilingual and creative hubs of activity with a number of partners, including Glasgow Open Museums, Scottish Refugee Council, the Red Cross and the Iona Community to enable refugee integration through languages and the arts. In Ghana we shall be working with the University of Ghana and the Noyam African Dance Institute and in Gaza with the Islamic University of Gaza.”
Dr Nazmi Al Masri, Vice-President of External Relations, the Islamic University of Gaza, said: “The Islamic University of Gaza is delighted to be a partner in this innovative UNESCO Chair established at the prestigious University of Glasgow and to be competently and creatively led by Professor Alison Phipps. Speaking from Gaza, which has been hosting Palestinian refugees for about seven decades, I can confidently confirm that this UNESCO Chair will achieve its noble objectives and will contribute to the promotion of universal values adopted by the UNESCO and the partner universities involved in this Chair. Hand in hand and with languages and arts we will together promote the culture of peace, tolerance and pluralism.”