Birth registration gaps leave South Africans in limbo
UNHCR is working with the South African government to help people at risk of statelessness obtain vital identity documents. By Pumla Rulashe in Brits, South Africa Mpho Modise can only guess her age and it embarrasses her. “I would say I am about 33,” she says. She is...
‘Walking in their shoes has given me the tools I need to serve’
UNHCR has over 17,000 personnel. Meet Elvia Peñaranda, a Venezuelan UN Refugee Volunteer who draws on her own experiences to assist Venezuelans refugees and migrants in Colombia. By Fernando Hernández Parada in Cúcuta, Colombia Name: Elvia Eduviges Peñaranda, 38, from...
Venezuelan jeweller defies disability to start over in exile
Discrimination and hurdles in accessing jobs, schools and health care make it harder for millions of refugees and asylum-seekers with disabilities to restart their lives. By Jaime Giménez in Quito, Ecuador When she reached Ecuador, Venezuelan jeweller Stephanie set...
How climate change is multiplying risks for displacement
Global heating is compounding threats for people already living with conflict and insecurity, further driving displacement around the world. By UNHCR Staff Until two years ago, David Cruz* had his own land in Nicaragua where he raised cattle and chickens and grew...
75,000 children in Iran to gain nationality under new law
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today’s press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, welcomes the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s...
Child-trafficking in Mali increasing because of conflict and COVID-19
Conflict, insecurity, COVID-19 and deteriorating economic conditions are leading to a rise in trafficking of children, forced labour and forced recruitment by armed groups in Mali, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency is warning today. More cases of child recruitment were...
Nearly 40 million at heightened risk of violence, discrimination and rights abuses as Covid spawns a ‘coping crisis’
Study reveals a severe deterioration in international efforts to protect the world’s most vulnerable, with human rights violations on the rise. GENEVA – A new report released today by the Norwegian Refugee Council and the UNHCR, UN Refugee Agency-led Global Protection...
‘Climate change is the defining crisis of our time and it particularly impacts the displaced’
UNHCR’s Special Advisor on Climate Action, Andrew Harper, outlines how global warming is driving displacement, and why decisive action is vital now. By Tim Gaynor In 2019, weather-related hazards triggered some 24.9 million displacements in 140 countries. Research...