Building connections together: Community sponsorship pilot for refugees in Rautjärvi
In late November 2023, Senior Durable Solutions Associate Erika Löfgren visited the community sponsorship pilot programme in Simpele, Rautjärvi, in south-eastern Finland. The pilot was initiated in January 2023 and is funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration...
Webinar: Meet a local. A Nordic model of community sponsorship for refugees
Community sponsorship programmes aim to support integration of refugees into the new community. Originating from Canada, the model has gained increasing interest throughout Europe in recent years. At this webinar, we will hear about recently launched pilot programmes in the Nordic countries.
As Sudan conflict fuels epic suffering, UN launches humanitarian and refugee response plans for 2024
The United Nations and its partners today appealed for a combined $4.1 billion to meet the most urgent humanitarian needs of civilians in war-torn Sudan and those who have fled to neighbouring countries.
With war-affected Ukrainian refugees still in need of support, UN launches plan to respond in Latvia in 2024
RIGA Today, the Latvian chapter of the Regional Refugee Response Plan for the Ukrainian refugees is being launched in Riga. As we approach the two years’ mark since the full-scale invasion began, millions of Ukrainians, both in Ukraine and across the region, continue...
With no let-up for war-affected Ukrainian refugees, UNHCR and partners launch plan to respond in Lithuania in 2024
VILNIUS Today, UNHCR and partners in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Security and Labour will launch the Lithuanian chapter of the RRP in Vilnius. As we approach two years since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine began, millions of people, both in...
With no let-up for war-affected Ukrainian refugees, UN launches plan to respond in Estonia in 2024
TALLINN As we approach the two years mark since the full-scale invasion, millions of people, both in Ukraine, and refugees across the region, continue to need support. The majority hope to return to Ukraine one day, but just 14 per cent plan to do so in the near...
Considerations for Preparatory Education for Asylum-Seekers and Refugees in Iceland
UNHCR’s Representation for the Nordic and Baltic Countries has submitted considerations for setting up preparatory education for asylum-seekers and refugees in Iceland. The UNHCR Global Education Strategy 2030 highlights the educational challenges faced by refugee...
UNHCR: Number of humanitarian emergencies in 2023 the highest in a decade
GENEVA – Last year, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, responded to a sharply higher number of new or deepening humanitarian crises – the highest annual number of declared emergencies in the last 10 years. According to the Emergency Preparedness and Response in 2023 report...
Unearmarked funding makes a difference in the lives of people living amidst neglected humanitarian crises
In 2023, UNHCR has been challenged by financial constraints despite ever-growing humanitarian need and forced to do more with less. Unearmarked contributions, such as those from Norway and Sweden, fund UNHCR’s vital operations in forgotten crises and enable UNHCR to plan and implement effective and sustainable humanitarian responses.
Denmark’s Humanitarian Impact on Afghanistan’s Earthquake Aftermath
The seismic events that occurred on 7 and 11 October, have left Afghanistan in disarray, directly impacting 250,000 people, claiming over 1,400 lives, and leaving 19,250 individuals, spanning 3,197 families, in dire need across seven districts. Denmark’s commitment to humanitarian efforts is making it possible for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to scale up the response as Afghanistan grapples with the aftermath of the two devastating earthquakes.
Exploring the challenges in assessing asylum claims based on religious conversion
In recent years, the number of asylum claims involving religious conversion has increased notably. This trend has sparked discussions among national authorities and academia, focusing on the credibility of such claims and good practices for their assessment.
Displacement crisis in Sudan deepens as fighting spreads
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is concerned at the deepening forced displacement crisis in Sudan and neighbouring countries as hundreds of thousands more people flee from the latest fighting in Sudan’s central Al Jazirah State, southeast of the capital, Khartoum. We...