Dubai gives ear to Voices of Refugees campaign

Wednesday, Aug 23, 2017

Dubai: UNHCR, the UN agency for refugees, organised a three-day activation of ‘Voices for Refugees’ campaign in partnership with Dubai Festival City.

The event aims at raising awareness about refugees’ needs, with a focus on children. This is the second campaign of its type this year in the UAE, inspired by the first activation held in Ramadan.

Mohammad Abu Asaker, UNHCR’s senior regional public information officer in the Gulf, said: “It is so sad that our world today has more than 65.6 million people forcibly displaced due to conflict and persecution. Some 40 per cent of them reside in the Middle East and North Africa.” He added: “The activation today is one of the most innovative approaches UNHCR has created to seek a new audience to support refugees in the region and beyond.”

The activation includes showcasing the refugee’s situation through Virtual Reality devices. It also opens an opportunity for supporters to show their solidarity with refugees through signing up their voices at the Voices for Refugees portal.

Steven Cleaver, director-shopping Malls, Al-Futtaim Group Real Estate, said: “The UNHCR is an incredibly worthy organisation, so we are proud to be hosting this innovative activation at Dubai Festival City to help raise awareness about refugees during the Eid holiday. We know that using cutting edge technology such as virtual reality is a really effective way of getting the message across to our visitors, so we hope to see a healthy number of people coming to learn more and support the cause.”

The advocacy campaign comes in line with the Year of Giving in the UAE and in the spirit of Eid celebrations in the country.

The Middle East and North Africa region continues to be the biggest generator and host of refugees in the world, with more than 17.7 million refugees and internally displaced persons and returnees, with children representing nearly half of them.

Residents can sign up at https://voices.unhcr.org/ to show their support for refugees.

Staff Report

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