Like it did in many countries, the COVID-19 virus spread quickly in Burkina Faso. The first case was reported in early March and by the end of May, nine out of thirteen regions of the country had been infected. With parts of the country already facing insecurity, COVID-19 presents serious additional and growing challenges for people, particularly those that…

How successful referendums across Canadian campuses are creating opportunities for young refugees to access post-secondary education

In response to COVID-19, the Government of Kenya, much like other governments around the world, initiated lockdowns of businesses and schools and implemented curfews to help curb transmission. Despite these measures, in just a few weeks, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Kenya almost doubled, bringing the total at the time of writing to…

What is World Youth Skills Day? World Youth Skills Day highlights the importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship, as well as recognizing the important role of skilled youth in addressing current and future global challenges. This year, World Youth Skills Day takes place in a difficult context. The COVID-19 pandemic…

All of Gabriel Ndayishimiye’s hard work over the past few years has recently paid off. This summer, he graduates with a B.A. Honours degree in globalization studies from Huron University in London, Ontario. Originally from Rwanda, Gabriel came to Canada in 2016 through the Student Refugee Program. He will be attending Columbia University in September…

How Employers and Training Centres can Navigate Together the Challenges of COVID-19 Globally, the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates there are more than 64 million unemployed young people around the world, with a further 145 million youth working but living in poverty. Many sectors in many countries, including healthcare, construction, and automotive technologies, are experiencing rapid…

Risk to Girls’ education and safety during COVID-19 The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about widespread lockdowns and school closures around the world, including in Kenya, where more than 2,000 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed.  In a country where 1.2 million primary-school-age children were already out of school before the crisis hit, these closures have…

Samya Al-Qudah, a recent graduate of the WUSC-supported Healthcare Support Worker program, tells us how proud she was when she helped her friend, who had been in critical condition, walk again. Samya is an example of the high return on investment in women’s education in Jordan. “I am proud of myself,” Samya says. “There is…

In November 2019, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and WUSC (World University Service of Canada) brought together stakeholders with an identified interest or active engagement in developing education opportunities for refugees as complementary pathways for admission in third countries. The two-day international conference…

WUSC places the health and safety of its personnel, and of the communities with which it works, as its first priority. WUSC is monitoring the global outbreak of COVID-19 and is closely following advice from public health officials globally, nationally, and locally. WUSC is currently taking the following precautions in response to the health and…