Excellencies, partners, representatives of international organizations, colleagues,

 

On behalf of the UNHCR Regional Representation in the South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia) I would like to thank you for your continuous support to refugees and displaced population and for accepting our invitation to join the World Refugee Day commemorations on June 20th.

Every year on World Refugee Day we honour refugees all over the world and pay tribute to their courage and determination to restart their lives. The annual commemoration is marked with actions and events in cities and communities all over the world. These are opportunities to celebrate diversity and inclusion among host communities.

This year UNHCR Regional Representation in the South Caucasus made arrangements to commemorate the World Refugee Day in the Parliament of Georgia. Unfortunately, due to the unforeseeable events taking place outside of the Parliament on 20 June, decision was made to cancel the event. Today I would like to take this opportunity and relaunch with you the social media campaign #StepWithRefugees in support and solidarity of 70.8 million forcibly displaced individuals globally. This is a global challenge in solidarity with refugees who each year trek 1 billion miles to reach the nearest point of safety.

In the frame of 2019 World Refugee Day, famous Georgian artists, sportsmen, public figures, UN goodwill ambassadors joined UNHCR campaign to show empathy towards millions of displaced who were forced to flee and leave their cherished homes in order to survive.

The campaign featuring Georgian celebrities will run on social media platforms over the coming months and we would like to invite you to join and show your solidarity with refugees.

You can access the campaign video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l-eMNiCKPI

For more information on the protection of refugees in Georgia, visit: https://www.unhcr.org/georgia.html

Please join us and take a #StepWithRefugees

Thank you,

 

Yoko Akasaka

Regional Representative a.i.

UNHCR Regional Representation in the South Caucasus

(Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia)

2a Kazbegi Ave

0160 Tbilisi

Georgia

Tel: + 995 32 238 62 02 ext 260

Fax: + 995 32 238 54 22

Mob: + 995 591 034 690

Email: akasaka@unhcr.org

www.facebook.com/UNHCRGeorgia