InterAction Recognizes World Refugee Day 2011
As we celebrate the 10th annual World Refugee Day, the number of people struggling to escape from conflict in some Middle Eastern and African countries is at an all-time high. InterAction members are working in this highly volatile part of the world and in other countries to serve and protect the many who have been involuntarily displaced from their homes.
This special web feature seeks to amplify the outstanding work of alliance members and raise awareness about the plight of refugees around the world.
Special Events
- American Red Cross, through its nationwide network of affiliates, is hosting a series of special events in Houston, Los Angeles and Seattle.
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Ethiopian Community Development Council affiliates in San Diego (Alliance for African Assistance) and Denver (ECDC African Community Center) are hosting World Refugee Day events.
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U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) marks 100 years of serving those fleeing war and persecution with the debut of a new poster art series at local events around the country.
Blogs and Videos for World Refugee Day
- American Jewish World Service talks about refugee girls falling through the cracks.
- Development Gateway interviewed three experts for World Refugee Day, check-out the interviews: Chief of Strategic Communications for UNHCR discusses World Refugee Day, Advocate at Refugees International talks about long term solutions for refugees, President of USCRI discusses refugee resettlement in the US.
- International Rescue Committee (IRC) highlights the powerful stories of 10 refugees.
- Jesuit Refugee Service/USA’s Voices features first-hand accounts from refugees and staff reflections about refugees.
- Refugees International challenges you to “Test Your Refugee Knowledge.”
Field Work
- ActionAid has been working with Ivory Coast refugees in Liberia since 2007.
- Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) assists hundreds of thousands of refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) around the world by providing basic necessities and projects that help IDPs reestablish their lives. ADRA is currently assisting refugees and IDPs in Cambodia, Côte d’Ivoire, Haiti, India, Liberia, Libya, and Myanmar.
- ANERA works in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, and Jordan helping refugees.
- Counterpart International is helping more than 650 refugees return to Mauritania (following the 1989 feud between Mauritania and Senegal). The organization also works in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Kyrgyzstan.
- CARE operates a listening center in Ivory Coast. The organization hopes this project will promote forgiveness and reconciliation.
- Education Development Center’s Darfur News and Information Service (DNIS) delivers news, information, and education to internally displaced people (IDPs) and refugees from Darfur.
- Episcopal Relief & Development supports local churches' efforts to assist refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs). In Sudan, Episcopal Relief & Development partners with the Episcopal Church of Sudan to provide food, shelter and basic items to Southern Sudanese who fled the Abyei region since fighting broke out in May. In Ecuador, Episcopal Relief & Development partners with the Episcopal Diocese of Central Ecuador to supply blankets, sleeping mats and personal care kits to Colombian refugees.
- Save the Children works in Ivory Coast where electoral-related violence has displaced more than a million people, many of whom are children. The organization also leads an effort in Libya distributes essential supplies to the most vulnerable families and insure the needs of children are addressed in even in tumultuous environments.
- World Vision is working with Ivory Coast refugees in Ghana and fears that the "real problems are just beginning."
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR)
- UN Refugee Agency’s “Do 1 Thing” campaign revisits the UN’s 1951 Refugee Convention that laid the groundwork for today’s global system to protect refugees.
