OLPC Computers for Palestinian Refugee Children
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has instituted a three-year program together with Sugar Labs and the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program.
Half a million Palestinian refugee children are already receiving daily education under the auspices of the United Nations agency, reported a representative of the UNRWA. The children are in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. Over the next three years, laptops should become available to them loaded with Sugar, an operating system especially developed to serve children and education.
"A laptop will be a huge contribution to bridging the technology and knowledge gap in one of the most troubled regions of the world," said UNRWA spokesperson Chris Gunness. The project is successor to the Palestine Education Initiative, which distributed 1,000 XO laptops in Palestinian schools in 2009. The initiative was a cooperative effort between Sugar Labs and the local education and IT ministry.
The Sugar project and the U.N. will be adapting the current UNRWA education plan to the Sugar Learning Platform and instruct local teachers in it. The UNRWA, by its own report, is financed almost completely by voluntary contributations from the U.N. member states and welcomes the Sugar project collaboration.
Further details on the OLPC project and additional UNRWA undertakings are on the agency's press release webpage.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
First Release Candidate for Linux Kernel 6.14 Now Available
Linus Torvalds has officially released the first release candidate for kernel 6.14 and it includes over 500,000 lines of modified code, making for a small release.
-
System76 Refreshes Meerkat Mini PC
If you're looking for a small form factor PC powered by Linux, System76 has exactly what you need in the Meerkat mini PC.
-
Gnome 48 Alpha Ready for Testing
The latest Gnome desktop alpha is now available with plenty of new features and improvements.
-
Wine 10 Includes Plenty to Excite Users
With its latest release, Wine has the usual crop of bug fixes and improvements, along with some exciting new features.
-
Linux Kernel 6.13 Offers Improvements for AMD/Apple Users
The latest Linux kernel is now available, and it includes plenty of improvements, especially for those who use AMD or Apple-based systems.
-
Gnome 48 Debuts New Audio Player
To date, the audio player found within the Gnome desktop has been meh at best, but with the upcoming release that all changes.
-
Plasma 6.3 Ready for Public Beta Testing
Plasma 6.3 will ship with KDE Gear 24.12.1 and KDE Frameworks 6.10, along with some new and exciting features.
-
Budgie 10.10 Scheduled for Q1 2025 with a Surprising Desktop Update
If Budgie is your desktop environment of choice, 2025 is going to be a great year for you.
-
Firefox 134 Offers Improvements for Linux Version
Fans of Linux and Firefox rejoice, as there's a new version available that includes some handy updates.
-
Serpent OS Arrives with a New Alpha Release
After months of silence, Ikey Doherty has released a new alpha for his Serpent OS.