Valerie Agawin, UNHCR, Toronto, Canada, April 14, 2022 – Nanji Family Foundation commemorates 50th anniversary of South Asian exile from Uganda by providing over 50 young refugees with tertiary scholarships through UNHCR’s [United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees] Aiming Higher campaign.
The Nanji Family Foundation is granting funds to UNHCR, for tertiary education scholarships in support of its Aiming Higher campaign. This generous financial contribution will help provide sorely needed financial support to refugees pursuing higher education by funding scholarships for health-related university studies in their countries of asylum.
Launched in December 2020 to coincide with UNHCR’s 70th anniversary, Aiming Higher strives to widen access to secondary and higher education for refugees, a goal and vision which lies at the heart of both the Global Compact for Refugees and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
In 1972, Pyarali Nanji, his wife, Gulshan, and their four children were among thousands exiled from Uganda. Stripped of their citizenship and assets, they were declared stateless. The family found sanctuary in Canada, first arriving in Montreal and later settling in Toronto.
The Nanji family has remained steadfastly determined and committed to giving back generously to the country that welcomed them, making a point to give equal support to causes both within Canada and internationally. As such, the Aiming Higher campaign serves to fulfill a long-held aspiration on behalf of the foundation to help support the advancement and empowerment of refugees through the pursuit of higher learning.
The hope is that this gift gift will encourage others to similarly support opportunities for young people facing forced displacement. There is a life cycle to the experience of giving back as a former refugee. First, you give back to your community, then to your country and ultimately globally – because that too is family. When possible, people give in stages and their ability expands over time.
“In my life I have learned something, that if God gives you opportunity, try to share it. First of all, you have to make sure that you are taking care of your family, your community, and then the whole country. So, I thought we have to pay back to the country, and the world… and for more than 20 years we have been doing this.” – Mr. Nanji
“It is beautiful what you said about giving back, and even more so, giving opportunity… You can be assured that we will spend it well, this donation. We will spend it to give people opportunities. And maybe in life there is a chain, that people suffer and go through exile and deprivation, and then if they have opportunities, they can give back. And the cycle continues if everybody does what you did.” – Mr. Grandi
More at source: UNHCR Canada
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