letter from the representative


GENERATION REFUGEE


UNHCR’s latest Global Trends Report states that one in every 122 people on Earth has been forced to flee their home because of conflict, persecution or violence. If that statistic isn’t frightening enough, more than half of the world’s refugees are children. Tat means that of the staggering 59.5 million people who are currently forcibly displaced, almost 30 million of them are children.


An oft-repeated cliché says that children are our future. But for displaced children, the future is uncertain at best, and dangerous at worst. It’s not just the fact that many refugee children are exposed to the horrors of war and can suffer trauma, both physical and emotional. Teir worlds have been turned upside down and all of a sudden home as a safe place no longer exists. Family and friends may have died, been injured or simply disappeared.


Our statistics also show that only one out of two refugee children is able to attend primary school and just one in four goes to secondary school. Often that’s because there is simply no school available. Host countries don’t always have the space to accommodate large numbers of refugee children. UNHCR provides schools wherever possible in refugee camps but resources are stretched to the limit. Other times parents are forced to withdraw their children from school so they can help support the family by selling goods on the street. Tere they are at risk for abuse and exploitation and are more likely to become sex workers as families become desperate to survive.


Some Syrian children have been out of school for two or three years, making it more difficult for re-entry as every month passes. With Syria the world’s largest producer of both internally displaced people (7.6 million) and refugees (3.88 million at the end of 2014), all of us should be concerned that Syrian children are becoming a lost generation. How will they be equipped in the future to help their country move beyond its current tragic circumstances?


So where is the good news in all of this? UNHCR is committed to providing children and adults who are victims of conflict with protection and assistance. We rely on our generous donors and support from governments around the world to continue this mandate. Given the numbers above, this is the most daunting challenge we have ever faced, not just as an aid organization, but for humankind as a whole.


In this second issue of UNHCR Magazine, we invite you to read the stories behind the statistics, including our piece on several incredibly resilient children and youth. Tere’s much more too; we hope you’ll share this issue with friends and family to raise awareness of this crisis. «


Best regards,


FURIO DE ANGELIS UNHCR REPRESENTATIVE IN CANADA


© D. Wilson UNHCR / 03


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