World Refugee Day is in two days, so today, we’re explaining who refugees are and how you can help.
A refugee is a person seeking a safe haven after being forced to flee their country. Unlike migrating, seeking refuge is not a choice. But when faced with war, persecution or natural disaster, sometimes the only option is to leave your home in hopes of survival.
Nearly half of the world’s refugees are children, and many children are born as refugees, with no place to call home for their entire lives.
For well over a decade, the number of people forced to flee their homes has increased, resulting in a global refugee crisis. These mass displacements have largely been the result of other humanitarian crises, including conflict, persecution and natural disasters.
Today’s child refugees come from some of the most conflict-affected places in the world: Syria, Myanmar, Ukraine, Sudan and South Sudan. In Gaza, 85% of people, including 650,000 children, are now internally displaced. The only reason they can’t be called "refugees" is because there is nowhere for them to seek refuge.
For displaced children, other mounting hardships severely degrade their quality of life, including limited access to education and health care. Many children facing displacement or living in crisis zones are entirely dependent on humanitarian aid for necessities like food, clean water and hygiene supplies.
Since our founding in 1919, we’ve worked tirelessly to build a world where all children, regardless of what they are facing, are able to grow up healthy, learning and safe.
Thanks to caring supporters like you, we help more children in crisis recover and return to learning than any other global humanitarian organization.
Together, we provide lifesaving aid, temporary schooling, psychological support and more to help children and their families when they need it most.
Thank you for all you do to make this work possible and for taking the time ahead of World Refugee Day to read about this crisis and the other humanitarian challenges children face.
