On June 20th, we mark World Refugee Day, established by the United Nations to honour the courage of refugees worldwide, forced to flee due to conflict or persecution. This day serves as a global call to action to ensure refugees’ rights, needs, and dreams are addressed, mobilizing support to enhance their lives. Initiated in 2001, and known before that as Africa Refugee Day, this international day now involves a myriad of events globally. These activities involve refugees, government officials, host …
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The month of Ramadan in Yemen is difficult to imagine. The situation there has been deemed the worst humanitarian crisis globally, where hunger is a daily challenge for millions. As the sole provider for her family, Afrah a displaced Yemeni mother, shares her struggles during the holy month of Ramadan. “If my children want juice or biscuits, I try to get it for them with the little I have. I can’t buy these things often… I try to teach them …
Among the starkest disparities faced by refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) is education: only 6% of refugees have access to higher education, while the global average enrollment among non-refugees stands at about 40%. When compounded with similar gaps in primary and secondary education, these discrepancies deny refugees and IDPs the vocational skills that would help them achieve financial independence, lift their families out of poverty, and become productive contributors to their societies. In response, UNHCR has been working hard …
“Winter assistance will be like a blessing to me; without it, the situation will be very hard”. Huda, Syrian refugee in Lebanon With these words, Huda answered our question, “How is winter assistance essential and helpful to you?” For refugee families, winter is not just the weather and seasonal change, it’s a set of evolving challenges of hardships. In reality, words fall short when we try to convey the reality and harshness of winter on refugee families. How can we …
Muslims around the world celebrated the new Islamic calendar year, 1444 AH, on July 29, 2022. This occasion, which took place in 622 CE, draws its significance more as historical event than religious celebration. However, Hijra, or the migration from Mecca to Medina, is a momentous event that shaped Islamic civilization and is used to chronicle its history. At its core, Hijra is a human story and its main actors are refugees who sought a new beginning in a distant …
“I can’t count the number of people that were displaced with us. Nearly everyone in the village left. It was such a long journey […] our cattle suffered horribly” Ardo, East Somalia internally displaced mother-of-four. Ardo did not want to leave her village in eastern Ethiopia. But it had barely rained in months; her cattle were dying, and her children were hungry. She had to walk about 260 kilometers from her village in search desperately for water and pasture to feed her …
On the occasion of Dhul Hijjah, UNHCR sheds light on the increasing poverty and food insecurity facing refugees, internally displaced people and host communities in Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan, in light of deteriorating economic conditions. Until the situation improves in Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Jordan, community members in these countries will continue to suffer. They urgently need your generous support to help them secure their basic needs, such as shelter, food, and clean drinking water, at a time when …
Dear, I hope this email finds you in good health and spirit as we approach the end of the holy month of Ramadan. First and foremost, I would like to express my honest gratitude for the support you have been providing to refugees and IDPs, during this month and all year round. I genuinely have so much respect for people like you, who didn’t forget about those who had to forcibly leave their homes. Where I live, in the United …
This year, UNHCR continues to deal with several protracted situations of displacement, which produced many refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) across the globe, including Syrians, Yemenis, Iraqis, Rohingyas, Malians and Nigerians, among others. As the world slowly recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating economic consequences, displaced people affected by these crises remain to be in need for humanitarian assistance, for them to continue to live in safety and dignity. Needless to say, the highest social and economic …
During the launch event of UNCHR’s 3rd Islamic philanthropy annual report on 29 March 2021, H.E. Prof Dr. Koutoub Moustapha Sano, Secretary General, International Islamic Fiqh Academy – IIFA (a subsidiary of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation – OIC), said that “Zakat is an entrusted right upon the Zakat payer towards eligible beneficiaries.”. It was my first time to think of Zakat this way. Of course, I believe in it as a duty on every eligible Muslim but did not …
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