“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…
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 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,…
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…
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…
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….
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…
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…
On the 13th of November, we celebrated the international “World Kindness Day”. A day to promote kindness and compassion around the world. And this year more than ever, we feel that kindness is needed. Here at UNHCR, we already know that small acts of kindness can change the world and they start with each one of…
Yemen is facing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. This is a fact. There are more people in need inside Yemen than anywhere else in the world. Maybe you have heard about it in the news or social media. But behind the latest news on Yemen, there are some critical facts, that few people are sharing:…