Global Platform For Syrian Students

The Global Platform for Syrian Students is a non-profit multi-stakeholders organisation, founded in November 2013, by Jorge Sampaio, former President of Portugal, with the support of a core group of institutional partners, namely the Council of Europe, the League of Arab States, the International Organization of Migrations (IOM) and the Institute of International Education (IIE). This initiative is unique in that it effectively brings together the efforts and the contributions of the various stakeholders willing to back an emergency mechanism to support Syrian students: governments, international and regional organisations, donor agencies, universities, foundations, NGOs of different cultural backgrounds and faith-based organizations, the private sector and individuals. Through a Network of Partners, an Academic Consortium, and a Special Emergency Fund, the Global Platform for Syrian Students works in a collaborative way. This programme entered into its operational phase in March 2014, when Syrian college students received a rare lifeline. A humanitarian rescue operation – organized by the Global Platform with the support of the Portuguese Government – allowed 45 Syrian students selected out of 1,700 candidates to resume their university studies under an emergency scholarship program, providing a comprehensive integrated “higher education care” services package. Since its launch in 2013, the GP4SYS has already awarded more than 550 annual scholarships, participated or organized in more than 65 international events and it has launched a Rapid Response Mechanism for Higher Education in Emergencies (RRM) that is now being finalized to be fully operational by 2021.