DUSHANBE, June 19, 2009, Asia-Plus — Like other countries in the world, Tajikistan will mark World Refugee Day on June 20.
According to the UNHCR Dushanbe Office, UNHCR Representative in Tajikistan, Mr. Ilija Todorovic, will give a news conference on occasion of World Refugee Day in Dushanbe tomorrow.
In 2000, the United Nations General Assembly decided that as from 2001, June 20 will be celebrated as World Refugee Day to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. The Organization of African Unity had agreed for it to coincide with their Africa Refugee Day.
Each year, the United Nations High Commissioner fro Refugees (UNHCR) selects a theme a theme and coordinates events across the globe.
This year, with the world economic crisis threatening to slash aid budgets and amid enormous global uncertainty, the theme selected by UNHCR for World Refugee Day is “Real People, Real Needs.”
UNHCR notes, “Of the millions of people forcibly displaced by conflict, persecution and natural disasters, every one has a story to tell; they are real people, just like you and me, and they have real needs. But, despite the best efforts of UNHCR and many others, many of these basic needs are far from being met.”
A comprehensive assessment of the needs of refugees and other people cared for by the UN refugee agency revealed that 30 percent were unmet – a third of them in basic and essential services. Improvements in nutrition and water supplies, access to primary health care, strengthened child protection programs, better protection for women from sexual violence and abuse, and improvements in living conditions and sanitation facilities are just some of the needs that are not being met worldwide.
