The Livelihoods Unit of UNHCR is responsible for overseeing national livelihood strategies in Nairobi, the Kakuma and Dadaab Camps, as well as the Kalobeiyei settlement. Livelihood interventions help displaced people secure necessities such as food, water, shelter and clothing while also supporting them to gain skills, capacity and social networks. Fundamentally, livelihood assistance focuses on equipping displaced people to become increasing self-reliant, as well as supporting their capacity to participate in income-generating activities.

While the elderly, people with disabilities and refugees are all at high risk, COVID-19 has also led to a surge in sexual and gender-based violence. This is alarming for Filippa, who works with UNHCR on prevention and tailoured response. Women are at risk of physical, psychological and emotional violence. These risks could increase due to confinement, increased anxiety and deterioration of mental health. --Filippa Dahlback, UN Volunteer Associate Protection Officer with UNHCR, Boa Vista

To support UNHCR in delivering its mandate, more than 310 UN Volunteers have served with in the Arab States during the period 2016-2019, over 50 per cent of them women. This group of diverse and well-trained practitioners strengthened UNHCR’s capacity to provide protection and critical emergency assistance for refugees, instilling hope and trust in hard times.

Identity, to me, is what we share when we introduce ourselves to others. It includes the traditions of our country of origin or the language we speak, our religious practices, family customs, hometown festivals and more. Now, imagine if your very identity was continuously challenged – only because you were forced to flee your place of origin due to precarious circumstances like war, political unrest or climate change. This is the reality that asylum seekers, refugees and anyone unwillingly displaced from home, face every day.

Holly finds working on refugee and asylum matters very engaging, especially as the country has long-term ambitions to join the EU and align its legal frameworks and systems accordingly.

The Chadian government confirmed the first case of COVID-19 within its borders on 19 March 2020. At the time, Dr Mba, who is a medical doctor and public health specialist, was already working on response plans and sensitization measures for refugees in Ouaddaï.

Awareness-raising and dissemination of information materials are paramount for COVID-19 prevention. Therefore, UNHCR, through its civil society partners, is ensuring outreach to refugee communities. As part of a dedicated information campaign for COVID-19 prevention, UNHCR facilitated the printing of information materials and disseminating them through partner organizations in locations where refugees and asylum seekers reside. Posters, for example, depict hygiene measures and restrictions on gatherings and travel, and guide on maintaining social distancing.

Newton Mutunga served as a UN Volunteer Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) Officer in Darfur. Recruited in 2015, he was posted in the Marra Mountains (Jebel Marra), where armed conflict persists and increasing numbers of people have been forced to leave their homes. You can read more about Newtons’ UN Volunteer experience in Sudan here.

Education is one of six themes at the centre of the GRF, critical to the support of refugees and the countries that host them. The Spotlight Session focused on tertiary education for refugees, through a conversation about how barriers are being overcome, how interventions are improving the quality or expanding the quantity of opportunities available, and ultimately, how higher education pathways can support self-reliance and solutions for refugees.

The project consisted of recruiting refugees from the camp and members from the host communities as Refugee Outreach Volunteers. Additionally, UNV used its refugee-to-refugee volunteer modality to recruit and deploy one refugee identified in the camp as a UN Volunteer. The Refugee Outreach Volunteers served with UNHCR and were provided with the necessary capacities, knowledge and resources to contribute to addressing their own protection needs.