The power of inclusion: story of two Refugee UN Volunteers
According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), there are 26 million refugees in the world and more than half of them are under the age of 18. Although there are various ways to help refugees, in this article, we highlight the work of our Refugee UN Volunteers, who are working tirelessly to ensure the successful integration of fellow refugees into society.
In the collective imagination, 'refugee' refers to a person living in a white tent, or who is homeless, very vulnerable and inspires pity and compassion. We challenge you to a mindshift, as we share the story of two refugees who dismantled this perception.
Mikaelou Demba Dia (33) and Ibrahima Watt (36) arrived from Mauritania in Senegal in 1989 due to the Senegalese-Mauritanian conflict. They are among 20 refugees awarded an Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative (DAFI) scholarship to pursue studies in Law and Human Resources, respectively.