20 June is the

World Refugee Day

Geneviève Bador and Olivier Delarue, UNHCR

On 4 December 2000, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution establishing 20 June as World Refugee Day. The Day has become an opportunity to reaffirm the fundamental principles of the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, an international instrument which acts as a protective framework for millions of refugees who flee persecution and violence. This Day is also an occasion to promote the joint efforts of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), governments, non-governmental organisations and all those actively involved in working to relieve the plight of refugees.

In 2001, the theme of the first World Refugee Day was Respect: respect for refugees themselves and their positive contributions to their receiving countries, as well as respect for the 1951 Convention and the rights of refugees. Many activities took place around the world to mark this Day, which was also part of the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Convention: concerts, festivals, exhibitions, debates and round tables, awareness campaigns, sporting events, commemorative stamps, the awarding of the Nansen medal, etc.

This year, the theme for World Refugee Day is refugee women . There are about 50 million uprooted persons in the world (refugees who sought asylum in another country or internally displaced persons). Between 75-80 percent of them are women and children. UNHCR cares for
21.8 million refugees and other persons of concern, around half of whom are female. Women are particularly affected by violence in all aspects. Victims of war and conflict, of domestic violence and sexual assaults, they are most often affected by human trafficking, often leading to sexual exploitation. Also, many teenage refugee girls are forcedly recruited as child soldiers.

Progress has been made in the past twenty years: UNHCR and other humanitarian organisations have developed policies and programmes in favour of women. The Statute of the International Criminal Court, adopted in 1998, gives it power to adjudicate a wide spectrum of crimes such as rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution and forced pregnancy. Some 170 countries are now party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, as well as its Optional protocol. The United Nations encourages the participation of women in peace processes as well as in reconstruction and resettlement strategies. Clearly, there is still much to be done.

This Day, 20 June 2002, pays tribute to refugee women, calling the public’s attention to the crucial role refugee women play throughout the world. They are the ones who undertake the vital tasks in refugee camps: raising the children, fetching firewood and water, preparing the meals and maintaining a family life despite having been uprooted. Whenever possible, they take an active part in education, training, health and economic development projects in the receiving countries or once back in their countries of origin.

With a view to promoting this year’s World Refugee Day , UNHCR, in collaboration with its partners, will organise a number of cultural and sporting events around the world during the month of June. In the Geneva area, thanks to the support of the “Amis du HCR à Genève”, of the “Société Nautique de Genève” (Port-Noir, Cologny) and of the “Banque Edouard Constant”, who agreed to sponsor this Day, UNHCR will be able to publicise its activities by taking part in the Bol d’Or boat race (15-16 June week-end). Several boats have already agreed to put UNHCR’s logo on their sails or hull; one boat will have on board refugee women living in Switzerland and female UNHCR staff members; videos on UNHCR’s work will be shown during the participants’ registration and visibility items will be distributed to the participants. A few days prior to World Refugee Day, UNHCR flags will decorate the Pont du Mont-Blanc; on the evening of 20 June, the Geneva jet d’eau will be lit up with blue lights . Articles will be published in the regional press to inform the public about the June events (which include a photo exhibit on refugee women and debates on the theme of education and integration at the FNAC of Geneva , etc.)

We hope that the Bol d’Or boat race and the other events organised in Geneva during this Day will strengthen the friendly ties which bind the people of the Canton of Geneva and the international civil servants who live and work there. In this spirit, we invite you to come and see the start of the race at 9 am on Saturday, 15 June, around Geneva’s waterfront, and to join this celebration of sport, sailing and the Lake.

For further information, please contact

UNHCR Liaison Office for Switzerland and Liechtenstein 94, rue de Montbrillant
Tel: 022 739 85 51 - Fax: 022 739 73 79 E-mail: hqea04@unhcr.ch UNHCR website: www.unhcr.ch

Sport in Refugee Camps

Mr. Adolf Ogi, former Swiss President and currently the UN Secretary Gene- ral’s Special Advisor for Sport, encourages the introduction of sport in the UN agencies’ programmes. Indeed, sport has many meanings: festivity, communication between peoples, team spirit and effort, disciplines, etc. In refugee camps, where uncertainty and monotony can discourage even the strongest of wills, sport can help young refugees, be they boys or girls, to restore pleasure and fun in their lives.

Olympic Aid , a non-governmental organisation founded in 1994 at the initiative of Norway’s gold medal speed skater Johan Koss and the Lillehammer Olympic Organising Committee, has developed, in collaboration with UNHCR, programmes in Africa, East Timor and Nepal to make real one of the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: the right to leisure, to engage in play and to participate in cultural and artistic activities. Recently, the0 NGO has recruited voluntary sports instructors (Canadians, Americans, Norwegians and Dutch) who stay in the refugee camps for six months to help organise activities in football, volleyball, basketball, running, gymnastics and karate.

In an extraordinary meeting of Olympic Aid held during the Salt Lake City Winter Games, High Commissioner Ruud Lubbers declared that “ Play and teamwork can help heal emotional scars and restore at least some semblance of normalcy in the otherwise alien environment of a refugee camp .”