Бежански консултативен съвет / Refugee Advisory Board
In an attempt to give refugees a voice, in June 2020 the UN Refugee Agency in Bulgaria, UNHCR, established the Refugee Advisory Board (RAB) in Bulgaria. The RAB consists of thirteen members and it is my honour to be standing alongside these members. We all come from different countries of origin, backgrounds, ethnicities, fields of expertise, age and gender. We are Faegheh and Hamid from Iran, Bewar, Salman and Ahmed from Iraq, Kays and Silsila from Afghanistan, Ali, Elias, Nart and Abdullah from Syria, Sara from Yemen, and myself, Sagir, stateless.
The board aims to take upon itself an advisory role by participating in decision-making processes led by institutions and organizations with the goal of developing and launching policies and initiatives towards the inclusion of asylum-seekers and beneficiaries of international protection in Bulgarian society.
We, as members of The Refugee Advisory Board will also reach out to the refugee communities, to closely work with them, making sure that their needs are identified and properly addressed as far as possible, to ensure their representation, to refer them to available support, and to provide them with information on their situation, as needed.
We will be the connecting bridges, the intermediary between refugees and institutions, and hopefully we shall serve as role models for others, giving them hope and identifying other successful refugees and promote their stories. There is a lot of refugee talent out there, and as a proof of that you can enjoy the performances of 3 of the RAB members, Silsila, Bewar and Ali, in the UNHCR online exhibition Beyond Differences on the occasion of 2020 World Refugee Day.
You can read below some of the reasons for the RAB members to join this initiative and their hopes for the impact of our future work:
“As a member of the Board, having a voice as a woman means a lot to me. I hope that we will encourage lots of other women to be able to stand for themselves and take their own share of self-empowerment.” Silsila
“When I came to Bulgaria, I needed help, someone to show me the right way so I can make my life better in a foreign country, and through this Board I think I have the opportunity to do the same for other people who need help.” Ahmed
“I want to use the Board’s capacity to work with other NGO’s to ease refugees’ pain.” Hamid
UNHCR supported the initiative from its establishment until 2022.
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