Raising the voice of young refugees
Learn more about the Refugee Speakers Programme, organized by UNHCR’s Representation for the Nordic and Baltic Countries in cooperation with TEDxStockholm.
Raising the voice of young refugees
Learn more about the Refugee Speakers Programme, organized by UNHCR’s Representation for the Nordic and Baltic Countries in cooperation with TEDxStockholm.
Every person has a story to tell. But some stories are not heard as often as they may need to be.
During the first half of 2022, UNHCR’s Representation for the Nordic and Baltic countries coordinated the Refugee Speakers Programme in collaboration with TEDxStockholm. The programme is the first of its kind to be launched by UNHCR in Sweden and was set up to help amplify refugee voices and give nuance to the narrative of persons with refugee background.
Throughout the programme, the participants – Widad, Faiaz, Elnaz and Raul – participated in a series of workshops and received individual coaching in public speaking by volunteers at TEDxStockholm to prepare them for sharing their personal stories about fleeing and building a new life in Sweden.
On World Refugee Day on 20 June 2022, the participants of the Refugee Speakers Programme shared their stories in front of a public audience.
Watch the video to learn more about the programme, and scroll down to meet Widad, Faiaz, Elnaz and Raul and listen to their moving stories.
Widad
- Born 1987 in Syria
- Arrived in Sweden in 2013
- Master’s student in Middle Eastern Studies
- Intern at The Swedish Institute of International Affairs
Faiaz
- Born around 2000 in Afghanistan
- Arrived in Sweden in 2015
- Has published six books
- Active in Ensamkommandes förbund
Elnaz
- Born 1987 in Iran
- Arrived in Sweden in 2020
- Studied English Literature, Theatre & Dance Anthropology in Iran and across Europe
- Performer and teacher
Raul
- Born 1999 in Afghanistan
- Arrived in Sweden in 2015 as an unaccompanied minor
- Studied at culinary school
- Interested in photography
The final event – World Refugee Day 2022
The participants put their public speaking skills to use and shared their stories with an attentive and very moved audience in Stockholm on World Refugee Day 2022.
Watch the video and see photos from the event here.
