Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
The
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
(UNRWA) is proud to announce that Ms. Safaa Mahmoud Obaid, a teacher at the
UNRWA Sweileh Preparatory Girls School in Jordan, has been selected as “Teacher
of the Year” in the global Earth Prize competition. . Ms. Safaa Obeid was
selected by Professor Mario Salomneh of the World Conference on Environmental
Education and awarded a cash prize of $12,500.
Ms.
Safaa worked to involve her students in the "Earth Prize"
competition, which is an environmental sustainability competition for students
in the ages of 13-19, according to environmental topics of interest to them as
Palestinian refugees in Jordan. These environmental topics included issues such
as desertification of the Dead Sea by 2030, environmental friendliness of camps
and food waste management in Jordan.
Three
student teams from Sweileh Preparatory Girls School participated in the
competition, where they presented designs for creative and innovative solutions
to the environmental challenges facing their communities. The teams' creative
and practical solutions included data from the Jordanian Ministry of Water and
Irrigation. Ms. Safaa's initiative and leadership was recognized by the Earth Prize
Selection Committee and, following an interview, she was selected as the winner
of the 2022 Teacher of the Year Award and awarded the title of "Teacher of
the Year".
In
addition to Ms. Safaa's students, 34 teams from 24 UNRWA schools and one
vocational training center participated after registering their projects in
this competition. Two of the UNRWA schools achieved advanced positions among
the 34 teams participating in the School Teams Award, specifically the Amqa
Mixed Secondary School in Lebanon and the UNRWA Gaza Training College in the
Gaza Strip.
After
announcing her victory, Ms. Safaa commented: "I am very proud to represent
UNRWA in this international competition in the field of environmental
sustainability, and awarding me the title of 'Educator of the Year' increases
my sense of responsibility towards my environment and my community as well as
my students, for whom I was keen to integrate environmental learning into their
Classroom through the creation of a guide environmental enrichment and
educational activities easy to use and application to raise awareness about
environmental issues.
The
global Earth Prize challenges and inspires students to make a difference in
their local communities, through active participation. UNRWA is currently providing,
and after graduating 2.5 million Palestine refugee students, UNRWA is providing
quality education to 53,200,000 Palestine refugees in its 711 schools. While
continuing its tradition of innovation, UNRWA is honored to provide a platform
for teachers like Ms. Obaid to educate and mentor Palestine refugee students in
Jordan and throughout the Middle East.
“Land
stewardship is an increasingly important and urgent issue for which all global
citizens must take responsibility, including in Jordan, where the impact of
climate change, particularly in terms of increasing Water scarcity, felt.That
is why UNRWA was delighted to partner with the Earth Foundation on the Earth
Prize initiative and very much welcomed the good news that one of our teachers,
Ms. Safaa Obeid, was awarded the prestigious Teacher of the Year award.This is
a true testament to the role of "My UNRWA teachers in general, and Ms.
Obaid in particular, as pioneers in caring for this land that we all share. I
am very proud to work with world-class teachers like Ms. Safaa Obaid, and I
hope that she will be an example to follow for UNRWA teachers and students in
the coming years."
source
Achievements and Awards
- Years in active
: From
To