UNHCR and Partners commemorate 2019 World Refugee Day and promote #StepWithRefugees campaign

The commemoration events included a variety of activities, e.g. a special WRD awareness-raising session with a group of journalists and Media NGOs on the global refugee trends and the refugee situation in Armenia and worldwide, watched and discussed WRD thematic videos, talked about refugees’ integration opportunities, as well as their inclusion and development in Armenia; some thirty-five children of concern residing in various provinces in Armenia visited  ‘CitYzen” Children’s educational and recreation centre in Yerevan where they familiarised themselves to various professions, learnt how to earn money and spend it thoughtfully, gained knowledge of urban structure and facilities, engaged in many games and activities which as they noted afterwards: ‘made their day’ and opened a new world for them where their dreams and desires could come true”. There was also a WRD discussion with women support group members who were keen on learning about the displacement situation worldwide, watch thematic videos and brainstorm, tell their own stories, and their new life in the host country.

On 20 June, UNHCR commemorated WRD together with UN family at the UN House. The colleagues learnt about the displacement situation and the plight of refugees worldwide, watched the videos on the 2018 Global Trends Report and High Commissioner’s WRD speech where he pledged “to do all he could to help millions of forcibly displaced people “not just to get by, but also to thrive.”

The key WRD event this year, which was an innovative and a larger-scale public activity, was dedicated to UNHCR’s new 1 Billion Miles Campaign – every step counts. UNHCR therefore invited its partners to join the movement and take a step with refugees. The campaign gathered together some 150 marchers, colleagues and volunteers of Migration Service, Mission Armenia, Armenian Red Cross Society, FAR Children’s Support Centre, KASA Swiss Humanitarian Foundation, Global Shapers, as well as Youth Coalition, UNHCR supporters and the civil society. The marchers in “Einstein was a refugee” T-shirts were walking in the streets of Yerevan, chanting WRD slogans and holding posters developed by the group of volunteers and Youth Coalition, saying: “Refugee is a person like you and me”, “Listen to refugees – hear their voices”, “Welcome refugees with a warm smile in your communities”, “Refugee can be your neighbour, your classmate and your friend”, “Let us say ‘yes’ to cultural diversity”, “We call for employers to ensure dignified work for refugees”, and other slogans. The marchers who in total walked some 13 km, attracted the passersby and Media who were curious about the march and were asking questions to learn more about the situation of refugees, their successes, but also priority issues in Armenia and in the world – some even joined the marchers. The three-hour event was concluded by a WRD flash-mob, as well as an open-air drawing activity and ice-cream treat for refugee and local children at Yerevan’s Northern Avenue.

The WRD events and #stepwithrefugees campaign were broadly covered by the Media: on 20 June, UNHCR and Youth Coalition members were invited to “Yerkir Media” TV Studio where they talked about their Coalition’s achievements, including their active community and volunteer work; there was also a panel discussion at “Media Centre” in Yerevan with the participation of UNHCR, its state and NGO partners and persons of concern. The participants talked about integration successes, as well as the difficulties which the displaced population strives to overcome and move forward towards successful integration. Moreover, the UNHCR representative and the Head of Migration Service participated in the Public TV morning programme where they talked about and shared with the public some refugee data and statistics, and talked about the scope of activities carried out in partnership with the state agencies and NGOs. UNHCR’s WRD press release, High Commissioner’s speech, thematic photos and videos were shared on UNHCR Armenia FB, a refugee photo-exhibition, as well as video materials were also demonstrated at the UN house lobby during the entire WRD period.