IOM and UNHCR chiefs stress that COVID-19 underlines the urgent need for universal health coverage
Ahead of International Universal Health Coverage Day (12 December), as the world struggles to curb COVID-19, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi and the Director General of IOM António Vitorino, stressed that health services must be inclusive of all...
Urgent support needed for Venezuelan refugees and migrants facing trauma and hardship
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, is warning of unprecedented levels of trauma and despair...
Yemenis displaced by conflict now face threats of looming famine
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, is today warning that hundreds of thousands of internally...
Ethiopian refugees report obstacles to reach safety in Sudan as numbers approach 50,000
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, working with the local authorities, has now registered...
US$1.44 billion needed to support refugees and migrants from Venezuela amid COVID-19
Joint UNHCR-IOM Press Release GENEVA – Today, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and IOM, the International Organization for Migration, launch a US$1.44 billion regional plan to respond to the growing needs of refugees and migrants from Venezuela and the communities...
UNHCR forum weighs lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic
The final session of this year’s High Commissioner’s Dialogue considered solutions for responding to future global emergencies. By UNHCR Staff The COVID-19 pandemic has shown just how vital it is to include refugees and displaced people in plans and decisions that...
Forced back home by the pandemic, Venezuelan grandmother sees no choice but to flee once again
With lockdown making it all but impossible for many Venezuelan refugees and migrants to meet their basic needs, thousands have headed home – only to have to flee again. By Ángela Méndez-Triviño in Riohacha, Colombia When Rosalba* decided to flee her native Venezuela,...
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...