Q&A: Access to health services is key to halting COVID-19 and saving refugee lives
UNHCR’s leading public health expert says prevention and inclusion must be at the heart of the response for displaced people, especially in areas with weak health services. By Jonathan Clayton in Geneva Ann Burton, Chief of UNHCR’s Public Health Section, outlines the...
Yemen sees fresh displacement after five years of conflict
After fleeing latest fighting in country’s north, Yemenis describe harrowing route to safety and dire conditions on arrival as humanitarian aid struggles to meet needs. By UNHCR staff in Marib, Yemen Nasra described the scene of chaos and panic during the night in...
Syrian refugees aid vulnerable Swiss amid COVID-19 outbreak
As the elderly and unwell self-isolate, a network of Syrians provides a vital bridge to the outside world for Swiss in greatest need. By Tim Gaynor and Elisabet Diaz Sanmartin As a retired doctor living alone in Switzerland, Marie-Claude was concerned about how to...
How your Zakat has helped rebuild the lives of refugees
By Lynn Al Nasser For Muslims around the world, the Holy Month of Ramadan is a time of reflection, gratitude and patience. It is a time for families and communities to gather and break their fast (iftar) together. For 30 days, Muslims are required to fast from sunrise...
Canada holds a special place for me
By Jean-Nicolas Beuze After three years in Canada, it is time for me to return to the humanitarian frontlines. As you read this I will be on the ground as the UNHCR Representative in Sana’a, Yemen, where a shocking 80 per cent of the country’s over 28 million people...
NASIMCO volunteer draws on personal experience to support refugees
By Fiona Irvine-Goulet Gulamabbas Najafi, Vice-President of NASIMCO (North American Shia Ithna-Asheri Muslim Communities), understands what it’s like to be a refugee: in 1972, during Uganda’s brutal regime of Idi Amin, Najafi and his family were forced to flee from...
Online learning program empowers refugees to pursue higher education
Master’s student in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp plays active role in campus life at Canada’s York University By Lauren La Rose Abdikadir Bare Abikar has never seen York University in person, yet distance has proved to be no barrier for the graduate student who has...
Inside Venezuela: One of the largest and most far-reaching emergencies of our time
Traditionally, Venezuela has been a generous host to thousands of refugees. But with escalating economic instability, violence and a lack of access to food, medicine and jobs, Venezuelan families themselves have been forced to flee their country. By the end of 2019,...