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World Refugee Day

20 June

For years, many countries and regions have been holding their own Refugee Days and even Weeks. One of the most widespread is Africa Refugee Day, which is celebrated on 20 June in several countries.

As an expression of solidarity with Africa, which hosts the most refugees, and which traditionally has shown them great generosity, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 55/76 on 4 December 2000. In this resolution, the General Assembly noted that 2001 marked the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and that the Organization of African Unity (OAU) had agreed to have International Refugee Day coincide with Africa Refugee Day on 20 June. The Assembly therefore decided that, from 2001, 20 June would be celebrated as World Refugee Day. 
[Note: The OAU was replaced by the African Union on 9 July 2002.]

Links to UN and UN System sites:

Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Inter-Agency Standing Committee

UN Joint Logistics Centre

World Food Programme

UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

Sudan Information Gateway - UN System in Sudan

Global issues on the UN Agenda: Refugees

Humanitarian Aid, Refugees (UN News Centre)

UN Works in Emergencies

Refugees (UN CyberSchoolBus)

Additional resources:

The additional resources links on this page are provided for information purposes only and do not necessarily represent an endorsement by the United Nations.

Amnesty International

Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement

European Council on Refugees and Exiles

Forced Migration Online

InterAction - Migration & Refugees

Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre

International Committee of the Red Cross

International Organization for Migration

International Rescue Committee

Protecting Refugees (Human Rights Watch)

Refugees International

Refugee Studies Centre (University of Oxford)


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