TikTok joins forces with UNHCR this Ramadan to #everygiftcounts in support of refugees

• TikTok to donate up to$200,000 USD with community accelerating donations by creating and watching videos via hashtag #everygiftcounts.
• Local celebrities and prominent content creators including Balqees Fathi, Raya Abi Rached, and Karen Wazen participated in the challenge.

 Dubai: With COVID-19 potentially impacting displaced refugee communities across the world, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is working tirelessly to provide lifesaving support to the most vulnerable. In response to the pandemic, UNHCR has appealed for additional funds to sustain its increased emergency response efforts, a call which TikTok, the leading destination for short-form mobile video, has answered eagerly with a new initiative.

Now Live on the platform throughout the holy month of Ramadan, the new #everygiftcounts challenge mobilizes TikTok’s highly active community of creators across the Middle East to support UNHCR and the plight of refugees through a simple-yet-impactful act.

Celebrities and popular TikTok content creators from across the region including Balqees Fathi (@balqeesfathi ), Karen Wazen (@karenwazen), Raya Abi Rached (@rayaofficial), Yara (@yara ), Noor Stars (@noorstars), and Ansala family (@ansalafam) have posted videos labelled #everygiftcounts with inspiring messages of support.

Videos posted  under the hashtag will encourage an amplified effect – as  more people on the platform engage with the challenge, donations will increase until funds reach a $200,000 USD threshold.

Users are encouraged to create and post original videos of their own, sharing positivity and bringing the UNHCR’s emergency relief response to users’ attention, with $2 USD donated for every video posted under the hashtag and an additional $0.1 USD for every view of content related to the challenge viewed.

Millions of refugees and IDPs observing Ramadan this year are already facing a difficult reality. Most refugees live a hand-to-mouth existence, reliant on casual labour opportunities that have now vanished, as restrictions of movement and other public health measures trigger a global economic downturn.

Funds raised by the challenge will be deployed towards UNHCR programmes in support of refugees and displaced families in need to counter the huge impact of COVID-19 in MENA. UNHCR is working with governments and humanitarian partners to ensure that refugees and internally displaced people are included in national COVID-19 response plans and is expanding cash and other forms of assistance. But urgent and additional financial support is needed now to help ensure that people can survive these challenging times.

The #everygiftcounts challenge is the latest initiative spearheaded by TikTok in MENA that aims to drive positive, meaningful and long-lasting impact of local communities and raise awareness of important causes

Last week, TikTok also launched #cookfromhome in UAE to enhance solidarity and digital connectedness in a time of physical social distancing via a unique campaign tapping into the region’s love of cooking during Ramadan. The challenge, in support of charity Emirates Red Crescent, inspires creativity in the kitchen and acts of kindness during the Holy Month. For every Iftar or Suhoor meal shared on TikTok with the challenge hashtag, TikTok will donate $2 USD (up to $40,000 USD) to provide Ramadan meals to those most in need.

#everygiftcounts is now live on TikTok. To contribute to the cause and show support for UNHCR’s work, launch or download TikTok on a compatible device and engage with the challenge by creating or watching a video tagged with #everygiftcounts.

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About UNHCR

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, leads international action to protect people forced to flee their homes because of conflict and persecution. We deliver life-saving assistance that includes shelter, food and water, as well as help safeguard fundamental human rights. We also develop solutions that ensure people have a safe place to call home where they can build a better future and work to ensure that stateless people are granted a nationality.

About the Ramadan Campaign

Every year, UNHCR appeals to the public during the month of giving and generosity to help raise funds for refugees and internally displaced families in need. ‘Every Gift Counts’ is UNHCR’s second global Ramadan campaign, and focuses on the small but incredible changes individuals can bring to refugee families during this Holy month, and invites the public to transform the bittersweet reality of refugee and displaced families observing Ramadan far from their homes, often with little means. The campaign aims to raise funds, through donations including Zakat and Sadaqah, to help provide lifesaving support such as shelter, food, clean water and monthly cash assistance, to the most vulnerable refugee and IDP families in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Malian refugees in Mauritania and Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

About TikTok

TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. Our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy.

TikTok has global offices including Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo. 

Media Contact: Weber Shandwick MENAT

Carine Arif - carif@webershandwick.com  - +971 52 789 9427
Sarah Skaf - sskaf@webershandwick.com  - +971 56 126 2837

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