As COVID-19 and conflict surge, DR Congo displaced face deadly consequences of chronic underfunding
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. Massive funding gaps are threatening hundreds of thousands of lives in the Democratic...
Restoring Sudan’s forest cover, one tree at a time
Refugees and their hosts together plant one million trees in a massive reforestation drive in the White Nile State in Sudan. By Sylvia Nabanoba and Vanessa Zola in Kosti, Sudan A thick rubber pipe snakes its way from Sudan’s White Nile River for over two kilometres,...
UNHCR: Help us protect the environment to protect refugees
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, joins the U.N. Environmental Programme in observing World Environment Day today. “Climate change and environmental issues are closely intertwined with refugee movements and internal displacement,” said UNHCR’s Special Advisor on Climate...
Forests in Guatemala find new guardians: refugees
As rangers in some of Central America’s most biodiverse national parks, refugees and asylum-seekers get a fresh start while protecting threatened plant and animal species. By Alicia Álvarez Gil in Guatemala City, Guatemala Although his workday starts at sunrise, Josué...
Syrian electrician gets back on track at German rail network
German rail operator Deutsche Bahn’s integration programme offers refugees a chance of permanent employment and also fills a gap in the labour market. By Josie Le Blond in Hamburg, Germany Mohammad Alkhalaf, a refugee from Syria, is a perfectionist – and that quality...
News comment by UN Refugee Agency’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Gillian Triggs on the UN Secretary-General’s Policy Briefing on People on the Move
Today, the UN Secretary-General issued a policy briefing on “COVID-19 and People on the Move” as part of a series that highlights how the international community can deliver an effective, coordinated response to COVID-19, particularly for the world’s most vulnerable...
For Yemenis on the brink, aid funding gap spells disaster
Already the world’s worst humanitarian crisis after years of conflict and mass displacement, aid cuts due to lack of funds and arrival of COVID-19 put millions of lives at risk. By Shadi Abusneida in Sana’a, Yemen Having suffered through more than five years of...
Malian refugees, local hosts flee after Sunday attack on site in western Niger
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today’s press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. More than a thousand people – a mix of refugees from Mali, displaced Niger nationals...