We are delighted to announce a new partnership between UWC Red Cross Nordic and 100 LIVES and Near East Foundation.

On Friday 27th November 2015 at the UWC National Committee Regional Middle East North Africa Conference, the 100 Lives Scholarship Programme was announced to the gathered National Committees and other members of the UWC community. UWC Maastricht, UWC Red Cross Nordic and UWC Robert Bosch colleges have been chosen as the first beneficiaries of the scholarship programme for 2016 student entry.

100 LIVES and NEF have launched an eight-year-long educational scholarship programme meant to benefit 100 at-risk children from the Arab Middle East. 100 LIVES and NEF have jointly developed the programme as a way to express gratitude on behalf of the global Armenian community to the people of the Middle East, who offered shelter and food to those displaced by the Armenian Genocide a century ago.

One hundred years later, Armenians are expressing their gratitude to the Arab people and other peoples of the Middle East. Valued at nearly $7 million, the 100 LIVES and Near East Foundation Gratitude Scholarship Program will provide children affected by conflict, displacement and poverty the opportunity to study at UWC’s network of schools and colleges around the world, including in Armenia-based UWC Dilijan.

This is an exciting development in the historical partnership between Norway and Armenia. Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930) – famous Norwegian explorer, author, statesman, Nobel Laureate – requested in 1921 in his capacity as High Commissioner for Refugees (appointed by the League of Nations) that the League validated the “Nansen Passport”, which gave the stateless people the right to enter different countries. Thanks to these passports 320,000 Armenians won the right to move freely to their preferred country. Nansen was also responsible for resettling 7,000 people in Armenia in 1925 – refugees who had been displaced during the First World and ill-treated up until 1925 when Nansen drew up and implemented a plan for resettlement.

UWC Red Cross Nordic remains wholeheartedly committed to providing an educations to students affected by conflict, displacement and poverty – and our College is very much looking forward to welcoming in August 2016 its first student selected as part of the partnership between RCN and 100 Lives / Near East Foundation. For further information, please find the announcement of the 100 LIVES and Near East Foundation (NEF) Gratitude Scholarship Programme here.

The Board members of UWC RCN met in Stockholm on Tuesday 1st December for its quarterly meeting. Lars Leijonborg, the Swedish member of our Board, helped to prepare the programme of engagement and kindly coordinated a guided tour of the City Hall, followed by lunch and our main meeting. In the evening, we hosted a reception in central Stockholm as part of our ongoing engagement with supporters – and we were delighted to have the opportunity to connect with the Swedish National Committee, some of our alumni, parents of current students, former members of staff, and other
supporters living in Stockholm and the surrounding areas.

Today, a delegation from the Board will be visiting Biskops Arnø  Folkehøgskule, on the outskirts of Stockholm, with the focus on developing Nordic values and cooperation through education. A small group has been invited to meet with Boriana Åberg, MP, in Parliament.

Looking forward and following on from the success of this visit, the Norwegian Ambassador to Stockholm has invited us in the spring to co-host an event at the Embassy for politicians, civil servants and other key RCN stakeholders.