20 June 2018 (UN Women)* — Right now, nearly 66 million people around the world are displaced from their homes due to conflict, persecution and natural disasters.
Pasca Kole, a refugee woman from South Sudan, with her daughter whom she gave birth to shortly after arriving in Pagirinya Settlement in Uganda. Photo: UN Women/Aidah Nanyonjo
We need to break away from traditional response strategies that are no longer adequate to support the reality facing refugees today.
The average length of displacement is now 17 years or more, which means that those affected will spend a significant portion of their lives as refugees.
By UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi*
20 June 2018 (UNHCR)* — Today, World Refugee Day, is a time for solidarity with refugees – and with the communities that welcome them. As conflicts emerge, recur, persist and deepen, 68.5 million people are uprooted around the world. Nine out of 10 are in their own countries or countries next door, and the impact is massive – on refugees themselves, and on the communities that open their doors to them.
HC World Refugee Day video statement
Now, more than ever, taking care of refugees must be a global – and shared – responsibility. It’s time to do things differently.
The effects of conflict-related sexual violence echo across generations, in the form of trauma, stigma, and unwanted pregnancy, on 19 June 2018 said the UN chief, describing the scourge as “a threat to our collective security” and “a stain on our common humanity.”
UNICEF/Donna DeCesare | This 15-year-old was one of Colombia’s child soldiers – some 30 per cent of whom are girls, often sexually abused.
“Children conceived through wartime rape often strugglewith issues of identity and belonging for decades after the guns have fallen silent,” explained Guterres.
Separating children from their families is in no-one’s best interest – the head of UN Children’s Fund UNICEF said on 19 June 2018 – pointing to “heartbreaking” stories of infants who have been reportedly removed from their parents after entering the US from Mexico illegally.
UNHCR/Markel Redondo | Genesis Cerrato, 16, with her one-year-old son. Along with her whole family, she fled Honduras escaping violence in her home country.
In an appeal to the US regarding its recent policy change cracking down on migration at the border with Mexico, Executive Director Henrietta Fore said in a statement that children who were in need of international protection “have the right to be protected…and be with their families”.
A senior United Nations official on 19 June 2018 urged Israel to reverse course over illegal settlement construction on occupied Palestinian land, and for both parties to return to the negotiating table in pursuit of a lasting peace deal.
UN Photo/Loey Felipe | Nickolay Mladenov, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, briefs the Security Council. (file photo)
In response to the withdrawal of the United States on 19 June 2018 from the United Nations body which is designed to promote and protect human rights around the globe, Secretary-General António Guterres said that he would have “much preferred” the US remain.
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UN Photo/Elma Okic | A wide view of the Human Rights Council.
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In a statement issued by Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric, the UN chief said that the Geneva-based Human Rights Council was a part of the UN’s overall “Human Rights architecture”, which “plays a very important role in the promotion and protection of human rights worldwide.”
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 