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Sudan referendum leads to mass population movements
Sudan's landmark referendum this January has
seen an important migration of southern Sudanese travelling back home to vote.
Around 120,000 people have now crossed back into the South since
December.
In order to deal with this massive influx the UN refugee agency has set up
8 way stations and a number of soup kitchens along the main routes of return.
These way stations are providing a safe place for women, children and the
elderly to rest as they make the arduous journey home.
Approximately 30% of returnees have gone to urban centres which puts additional pressure on the fragile infrastructure of South Sudan's towns. As a result UNHCR is also providing assistance to some 35,000 returnees in and around the town of Abyei, with stocks in the South for more than 100,000, should they be needed. |
January 2011
In this issue:
Nansen Awards 2011
Submit your nomination
for the 2011 Nansen Refugee award
Deadline for submissions is 28 February 2011 To learn more about this award click here. To view our inspiring video click here. UNHCR online
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High Commissioner's visit to Yemen
This January, High Commissioner Antonio
Guterres visited Yemen with the European Commissioner for International
Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response - Kristalina Georgieva. He
drew attention to the estimated 300,000 internally displaced people in Yemen's
northern governorates where humanitarian access has been severely limited due to
fighting between government and al-Houthi forces. He also appealed to other
countries to follow Yemen's admirable example of offering sanctuary to refugees.
It currently hosts some 170,000 Somali refugees.
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Colombia: Put yourself in their shoes
A new initiative has been launched in
conjunction with victims of violence in the municipality of Granada, Colombia to
raise awareness in Colombia and other Latin American countries about the plight
of the forcibly displaced. The multi-media campaign is called "Put yourself in
their shoes" and involves putting on the shoes of a refugee in order to learn
more about their experience.
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Integration initiatives in Georgia
UNHCR has joined forces with the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Georgia to help ease the pressures of
socio-economic integration of Chechen refugees into local communities. In this
pioneering initiative the two organizations are offering assistance to locals
and refugees alike. They are using UNDP's development expertise to offer
training in professional skills, with activities including carpentry,
bee-keeping, farming and sewing.
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UNHCR turns 60
December 14th, 2010 marked an important
anniversary for UNHCR - its 60th birthday. Founded in 1950, to help Europeans
displaced during World War II, it was only expected to be in existence for three
years. Today, we work around the world, helping millions of people with an
open-ended mandate. The anniversary was marked by an appeal from the High
Commissioner for strengthened global impetus in tackling the world's new and
fast-evolving displacement and statelessness problems.
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Appeal for help for Cote d'IvoireMore than 45,000 people have been displaced by political uncertainties in Cote d'Ivoire. This tide of refugees is straining the limited resources of villages in neighboring countries, especially Liberia, which has admitted around 31,000 refugees to date. UNHCR is building a camp in Liberia to accommodate around 18,000 displaced ivorians and help manage this influx. Help us provide valuable relief supplies to those fleeing violence by donating now. |
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