UNHCR is on the ground providing life-saving assistance to families affected by the disaster. Humanitarian partners are working hard to reach all amidst challenging circumstances.

Shebulike and his family fled the violence in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo after surviving two attacks by armed men invading their home. A few months after arriving in Burundi, Shebulike realized that he needed to provide for his wife and seven children and keep himself busy, so he fell back on his profession as a baker. “Rather than sit idle and depend entirely on the help we receive from the UN Refugee Agency and other humanitarian organizations, I found it useful to roll my sleeves up and get to work on the thing I know best.”

"There are certain images that will stay with me for a very long time. Because those are the images that cannot be forgotten overnight." Sajjad Malik witnessed terrible suffering during the Syrian crisis. As UNHCR’s former representative in the country, he oversaw one of the UN Refugee Agency’s toughest and most dangerous operations.

Since the war in Syria started in 2011 more than 5.7 million people have fled the country. Another 6.9 million are internally displaced. In this special bitesize episode, Sajjad Malik reflected on the catastrophic conditions he witnessed there and the lasting impact of those memories.

"You have to maintain your mental strength and courage. It’s fine to say it and reflect and cry if need be."

A hidden crisis is enveloping neighbouring Ituri Province, in North Kivu, where civilians face extreme daily violence that has forced 1.5 million to flee their homes. UNHCR and its partners in Ituri are providing emergency shelters, distributions of household items, and vital services including psychosocial and legal support to survivors of violence.

A group of worried women gathered at a community centre on the outskirts of Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul. Many have recently completed a livelihoods training project run by local NGO in partnership with the UN Refugee Agency. But the future of the project and the women hangs in the balance. Recent decrees issued by Afghanistan’s authorities have barred female employees with non-governmental organisations from going to work. If the decree is not amended, projects such as this one, which involves female NGO staff training other women, will be unable to continue.

Born without a forearm, Sarah’s playful spirit gives her struggling family strength as economic crisis makes a tough situation harder still. Sarah, her mother, father, sister and two brothers live in a simple two-room rooftop shack, strung with glimmering fairy lights that make Sarah smile. With a devaluing currency, the situation for the family and for Lebanon is getting worse each day. UNHCR, is seeking to alleviate the situation with initiatives including rehabilitating health-care centres and providing essential medical equipment to hospitals.

UN Refugee brings us the story of Yash, 17, who writes to his refugee grandfather, now deceased. His grandad fled as a teenager in 1947 during the partition of India, leaving everything behind.

As the war in Ukraine continues, psychotherapists are concerned for the mental health and well-being of refugees. A UNHCR partner provides stress relief from therapists and a support dog named Noir.

For Joshua, a refugee who fled gang violence, protecting the threatened tropical forests of his host country, has become both a calling and a moral imperative. Since early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Joshua has been working as a forest ranger at a natural preserve in southeastern Guatemala. Thanks to a partnership with UNHCR, FUNDAECO – the NGO that runs the preserve, prioritizes the hiring of people like Joshua, who have been forced to leave their homes due to violence, targeted threats, or persecution. Joshua, who previously described himself as a “nature beginner”, now says handling snakes is one of the highlights of a job. Find out more about Joshua’s personal transformation.

Ornella Banam escaped the civil war in Central African Republic in 2014, fleeing to Burkina Faso. She managed to continue her studies there but dropped out after her father died when she could no longer afford the fees. Last year, Banam was selected for the DAFI (Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative) scholarship programme, allowing her to return to higher education. The DAFI Tertiary Scholarship programme – funded by the UN Refugee Agency and partners is crucial to achieving the 15by30 goal, achieving 15 per cent higher education enrolment of refugees by 2030.

Dr. Angela Merkel, the former Federal Chancellor of Germany, accepted the 2022 UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award at a special ceremony in Geneva, saying the prize was in honour of “the countless people who lent a hand” when large numbers of refugees arrived in Europe in 2015 and 2016. “In reality, people’s lives happen locally, in cities and communities,” she told the audience. “And that is why I would like to thank the local politicians and employees in the municipalities in particular, as well as the many volunteers in organisations or those who provide individual assistance.” 

The Mbera Fire Brigade in Mauritania, is one of the winners of the UNHCR 2022 Nansen Refugee Award, for their courage and tenacity in safeguarding lives, livelihoods and a local environment.

Aryan Sanghrajka, 18, writes to his grandma (Ba), who fled Uganda in 1972 due to the forced expulsion of Asian residents.

Introducing the first trailer for #TheSwimmers: a Netflix movie based on the remarkable journey of UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador #YusraMardini and her sister Sara.

Five years after a Pulitzer-Prize winning photo made him the face of the Rohingya refugee crisis, a young refugee has taken up a camera himself.