Refugee children at a reception centre in Rome, Italy Refugee children at a reception centre in Rome, Italy
Refugee children at a reception centre in Rome, Italy. UN Photo/Rick Bajornas
"Our responses to refugees must be grounded in our shared values of responsibility sharing, non-discrimination, and human rights and in international refugee law, including the principle of non-refoulement." — UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon

In a world where violence forces hundreds of families to flee each day, the UN Refugee Agency believes now is the time to show world leaders that the global public stands with refugees, and it will launch its #WithRefugees petition on June 20th to send a message to governments that they must work together and do their fair share for refugees.

The #WithRefugees petition will be delivered to UN headquarters in New York ahead of the UN High Level Meeting on Refugees and Migrants, scheduled for the 19th September. The petition asks governments to:

  • Ensure every refugee child gets an education.
  • Ensure every refugee family has somewhere safe to live.
  • Ensure every refugee can work or learn new skills to make a positive contribution
    to their community.

World Refugee Day has been marked on 20 June, ever since the UN General Assembly, on 4 December 2000, adopted resolution 55/76 where it noted that 2001 marked the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and that the Organization of African Unity (OAU) had agreed to have International Refugee Day coincide with Africa Refugee Day on 20 June.

We Stand #WithRefugees 2016 - Please Stand With Us

Events

Monday, June 20 at UN Headquarters
1-2 p.m.

Shared_Studios and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) are hosting the Zaatari Portal dialoguePDF document at the United Nations. Portalsvideo is a network of gold shipping containers equipped with audio-visual technology that connect individuals around the world. When you enter one, you come face-to-face, live, with someone in another Portal abroad and can converse as if in the same room.

6-8 p.m.

Opening reception of the Refugees ExhibitPDF document hosted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in partnership with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Action Campaign and the United Nations Department of Public Information.