DUBAI, March 31, 2011 (WAFA)- Commissioner–General of UNRWA, Fillipo Grandi, praised Monday the use of technology to handle catastrophic crises that Palestinian refugees face but pointed out that connecting this technology with human capital is the key to prevent or lessen these crises.
During the opening speech at the eighth Dubai International Humanitarian Aid & Development Conference (DIHAD), which started on March 28th, Grandi called on the international community to match this technological progress with political progress concerning Palestinians.
He said technology is also important in the field of education, giving the successful example of three girls from an UNRWA school in the West Bank who invented an electronic cane for the blind and won a prize from Intel Corporation, according to the release.
Grandi noted that youth in the region are currently using information and communication technology to call for political rights and economic prosperity.
The theme of this year’s DIHAD conference, held annually since seven years, was modern technology and its impact on humanitarian operations and development.
In a press release, UNRWA said it plans to use its own electronic refugee registration system to preserve 18 million refugee documents since their spread in the Diaspora 62 years ago.
UNRWA helps some 4.8 million registered Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the occupied Palestinian territory, offering education, health care, social safety-net, camp infrastructure and improvement services.
R.S./F.J.
