Category: Blog posts Category

Khaled Khalifa: “The moment may come when we feel helpless in doing more for people in need. I tell you that your donations make a big difference every day.”

04Jun

June 4, 2021

In an interview to discuss the strategic partnerships and close cooperation with the GCC countries, Khaled Khalifah, the Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to the States of the Gulf Cooperation highlights on the impact of establishing projects and coordinating basic humanitarian efforts with governmental and humanitarian agencies in the GCC that are changing lives of…

The Many Different Ways YOU Can Help Refugee This Ramadan.

07May

May 7, 2021

Every second in Ramadan is a chance to do good! That is why we are sharing the many different ways you can support refugees, from this Ramadan until the next, and help secure shelter, food, water, and medicine for those in need. I am speaking of the children, mothers, fathers, and grandparents who are longing…

Ramadan: How will you spend your seconds?

19Apr

April 19, 2021

“Tear gas, tear gas…close your eyes and get down.” Words uttered by my mother as we reached the Iraqi-Jordanian border while escaping from Kuwait during the first Gulf War. That moment, at the young age of 7, was the first time I had ever seen tears coming down my mother’s face as she screamed helplessly knowing…

A UNHCR scholarship changes the life of a Palestinian refugee in Iraq

16Apr

April 16, 2021

It was a hot summer day in Baghdad in June 2018, Abdallah was coming home from school, he had high school final exams. When he reached home, he felt that something was wrong. From that day onward, nothing would be the same again, his grandfather had died. Abdallah was devastated and was unable to finish…

Some kids are forced to grow up too soon.

14Apr

April 14, 2021

Some moments in life change you. To each one of us there is this second, that turn things upside down. The first day at school, the first time we fall in love, the first job we get. Mine, happened when I first went to a field visit with UNHCR. Before joining the team in Beirut,…

UNHCR and The Big Heart Foundation: Nine Years of Transformative Impact

01Apr

April 1, 2021

Our work protecting and assisting refugees around the world would be impossible without the cooperation of valued partners who are committed to alleviating the suffering of the world’s most vulnerable and helping them build a better future. In the United Arab Emirates, one of our major partnerships is with The Big Heart Foundation (TBHF), established…

Interview with Billy Stelljes Asia Pacific Islamic Philanthropy PSP Officer

26Mar

March 26, 2021

Thanks to generous funds donated through the Refugee Zakat Fund, we have been able to assist thousands of beneficiary families across countries in MENA, Asia and Africa during 2020. In an interview with Billy Stelljes, our Asia Pacific Islamic Philanthropy Officer, he explains how UNHCR is responding to the needs of refugees and displaced families…

Heavy snowstorm puts refugees lives at risk

18Feb

February 18, 2021

While you are reading these lines, a mother and a father are exhausted. They are relentlessly trying to remove and clean the tonnes of snow that didn’t spare their home. As if living in displacement, in poverty, and the challenges of COVID-19 were not enough, another winter storm is hitting refugee families across the region….

A Special Interview with UNHCR Representative in Iraq, Philippa Candler Winter and COVID-19 challenges in Iraq

05Feb

February 5, 2021

The past year has been exceptionally challenging for refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Iraq. The escalation of hostilities between major actors in the region, coupled with the ongoing protests, resulted in a fragile security and political context that compromised the stability, transition, and reconciliation efforts achieved thus far. UNHCR’s access to people of…

Ambassador Affey: “Refugees show us daily how far the strength of the human spirit can go”

04Dec

December 4, 2020

In an interview on the current situation in Sudan and South Sudan, the Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, Ambassador Mohamed Abdi Affey, explains the biggest challenges faced. With 1.6 million internally displaced persons and nearly 2.2 million South Sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries, South Sudan continues to represent the largest displacement crisis in Africa, and…