Refugee girls beat the odds with education in Kenya
Providing refugee children and adolescents with an education wherever they find safety is a core humanitarian service, yet many do not have the opportunity. Esther, 18, did not attend school from late 2008 through to early 2011. Constant insecurity in South Sudan’s...
Cate Blanchett, Kit Harington & stars in refugee video
In the moment they flee, refugees cast a last desperate look around their homes and grab a few vital possessions to take into exile. Highlighting their harrowing choices, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Cate Blanchett today launched a powerful video, supporting UNHCR’s...Refugees and human rights student poetry contest, 2016 edition
UNHCR, the CCUNESCO and COSTI Immigrant Services are happy to announce the winners of the “Refugees and Human Rights Poetry Contest, 2016 edition”. Canadian students from grades 4 to 12 from schools across the country submitted high quality poems as part of this...
A Syrian family starts over in Canada
Wearing earplugs and protective gloves, Kevork Eleyjian hauls glued-wood veneers to a large machine on a noisy factory floor, shaping thin composite sheets into curved seats. The 28-year-old is among 15 Syrian refugees starting their lives over with jobs at the...
The kindness of strangers
Mohammad and Sahar sat across the aisle from one another, each with a son and daughter to care for during the 13-hour flight. Refugees from Syria, they had never been on a plane before. This life-changing journey would take them on four in as many days. Behind them...
UNHCR chief hails Canada PM’s leadership in global affairs
OTTAWA, Canada, March 22 (UNHCR) – Marking his first visit to Canada, the United Nations refugee chief congratulated Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for his humanitarian leadership over the global refugee crisis and conveyed a strong message of support calling for this...
High Commissioner Grandi greets Syrian refugees in Ottawa
OTTAWA, Canada, March 19 (UNHCR) – Just hours after landing in Ottawa, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi met a group of Syrian refugees who recently arrived to Ottawa. The families came to Canada as part of Canada’s...