In focus: World Refugee Day

A woman refugee with her children in the Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan. Photo: UN Women
Photo: UN Women/Christopher Herwig

Photo essay | Top stories | Video

There are 25.4 million refugees around the world today, and nearly half are women and girls. On 20 June, World Refugee Day, we are honouring the resilience and determination of refugees worldwide.

As women and girls are displaced, many protections and essential services break down, leaving them vulnerable to specific risks. For instance, they face heightened discrimination and violence at a time when support services are lacking and their burden of care work at home, such as providing food and water, and caring for the sick and the old, increase.

UN Women is working with refugee populations to provide long-term solutions that protect women’s and girls’ rights, provide opportunities for growth and employment, and maintain their dignity.

In Bangladesh, a Rohingya women’s group contributes to camp management meetings to ensure the needs of women and girls are considered in decision-making. In Jordan, Syrian refugee women participate in cash-for-work programmes and start businesses within camp settings. And in Cameroon, UN Women helps refugee women get new skills and stand on their own feet.

On World Refugee Day share these stories of resilience and join UNHCR’s #StepWithRefugees movement by covering one billion miles in 12 months, the same number of miles that refugees worldwide travel each year to reach the nearest point of safety.

Photo essay: Displacement and resilience—Five women, five stories

Kuda Mariam tends to her newly-planted garlic crop, north of Maroua. Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown
Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown

Join us for a journey into the Far North Region of Cameroon to meet five women who have traversed immense tragedies and emerged as resilient leaders, survivors and entrepreneurs. Read more►


Top stories

Nur Omar, beneficiary of SADA Women only center, Gaziantep, Turkey. Photo: UN Women/Sinem Aydin Lopez

In the words of Nur Omar: “I’ve healed the wounds of war and feel more confident about my future”

Caption: Intesar Hassan, 20, Syrian refugee woman enrolled in the UN Women’s cash-for-work programme in the hairdresser workshop at ‘Oasis Center for Resilience and Empowerment of Women and Girls’ in the Azraq refugee camp. Photo: UN Women/Lauren Rooney

Empowerment through employment for Syrian refugee women in Jordan

Noor Nahar. Photo: UN Women/Allison Joyce

From where I stand: “Women need support from each other to cope with this crisis”


Video: A Syrian refugee in Lebanon

On World Refugee Day, step into the world of urban refugees, and follow one family as they navigate their new reality after a harrowing flight from Syria.


Show your solidarity #WithRefugees on social media

Use #StepWithRefugees to join the World Refugee Day global challenge by posting a photo or video on how you’re showing your support for people who were forced to flee their homes to escape violence and persecution.

Join us in demanding policies that can ensure safety and dignity for displaced women and girls by sharing #WorldRefugeeDay content that you can find in our social media package.




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See our coverage of World Refugee Day 2018