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
-
OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 Available for Installation
The latest release of OpenMandriva has arrived with a new kernel, an updated Plasma desktop, and a server edition.
-
TrueNAS 25.04 Arrives with Thousands of Changes
One of the most popular Linux-based NAS solutions has rolled out the latest edition, based on Ubuntu 25.04.
-
Fedora 42 Available with Two New Spins
The latest release from the Fedora Project includes the usual updates, a new kernel, an official KDE Plasma spin, and a new System76 spin.
-
So Long, ArcoLinux
The ArcoLinux distribution is the latest Linux distribution to shut down.
-
What Open Source Pros Look for in a Job Role
Learn what professionals in technical and non-technical roles say is most important when seeking a new position.
-
Asahi Linux Runs into Issues with M4 Support
Due to Apple Silicon changes, the Asahi Linux project is at odds with adding support for the M4 chips.
-
Plasma 6.3.4 Now Available
Although not a major release, Plasma 6.3.4 does fix some bugs and offer a subtle change for the Plasma sidebar.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 First Release Candidate Now Available
Linux Torvalds has announced that the release candidate for the final release of the Linux 6.15 series is now available.
-
Akamai Will Host kernel.org
The organization dedicated to cloud-based solutions has agreed to host kernel.org to deliver long-term stability for the development team.
-
Linux Kernel 6.14 Released
The latest Linux kernel has arrived with extra Rust support and more.