USA for UNHCR

We're #hiring! ✨ Are you looking to take your #career to the next level and join a team of compassionate, forward-thinking individuals who are passionate about uplifting, empowering and protecting displaced people around the world? Join our team! Visit USA for UNHCR's careers website to learn about all our open opportunities and how you can be a part of something big! 👉👉👉 https://lnkd.in/gj8C6BX9

Are you a refugee changemaker with an innovative idea that will help your community? Apply for the 2025 Sparking Change grant today! The Sparking Change grant offers up to $10,000 to those who have experienced forced displacement to fund projects that will create positive change in their communities. If you have an idea for a project that will build bridges between resettled refugees and their new communities, submit your application today!

Calling all Seattleites! Look out for the special section in this Sunday’s The Seattle Times. Check out the incredible stories of refugees in the Seattle area — highlighting your city’s unwavering commitment to creating safe, inclusive spaces where refugees can thrive — and learn more about UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency’s work to help displaced people around the world build better futures.

Long-term solutions, like the Graduation Model in Colombia, are bringing new hope to those who have been forced to flee their homes! Launched in 2019, the Graduation Model helps forcibly displaced Venezuelans rebuild their lives with dignity and lift themselves out of poverty. The program uses a combination of trainings and mentorship to help displaced people build small businesses and gain financial stability. “Participating in the Graduation Model has changed me, and I dare say I am not the same person I was at the beginning,” shares Yuli, founder of the jewelry company Creaciones Andremar. “Joining the project was my starting point to bring my family happiness, peace of mind and confidence — all I aimed for when I came to Colombia.” 📸: © USA for UNHCR/Nicholas Feeney

The latest escalation of violence in #Lebanon has caused devastation across the country — claiming lives and uprooting families from their homes. More than half of the Lebanese population lives below the poverty line, while 9 out of 10 Syrian refugees living in the country require humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs. Swipe to see 5 key facts on the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Lebanon.

“I pray for peace and I want the world to know what is happening,” Idris says. "I pray Sudan recovers, it has to. This is my country, this is where I was born.” Before the war in Sudan erupted, Idris Issa was a thriving commercial farmer. Now, the 54-year-old father of 13 has been uprooted from his home and has lost everything. He currently resides in a makeshift shelter at the UNHCR-supported Al Kasara site for internally displaced people in White Nile State, Sudan. Like millions across Sudan, Idris's family now struggles to access basic necessities such as food and safe shelter. 📸: © UNHCR/Samuel Otieno

Over the past few months, we've been shining a light on Seattle and the incredible work Seattleites are doing to support, empower, and welcome refugees into their communities. From empowering women through the Refugee Artisan Initiative—where each stitch represents a step toward economic independence—to fostering friendships and culinary skills through Project Feast’s Culinary Apprenticeship Program, the stories we've featured have highlighted the city’s unwavering commitment to creating safe, inclusive spaces where refugees can thriv Read More:

Refugee ➡️ Youth program organizer ➡️ Leader and advocate 💪 Meet Tshishiku Henry and watch as he shares what has been most important to him on his journey to safety in a special interview with USA for UNHCR. Refugee Congress Tacoma Refugee Choir

Meet Diluvia, a member of Tuis Tuis, an indigenous group in Colombia that was displaced from their land 20 years ago. The group has since built a sustainable life in a new part of northeastern Colombia with their beautiful values and traditions. When we spoke to Diluvia we learned that, as part of Tuis Tuis tradition, men do not translate or speak on behalf of women. Therefore, all translation from their indigenous language to Spanish must be done by a woman if a woman is speaking. Diluvia is part of an indigenous leadership school supported by UNHCR. The school seeks to strengthen civic and public participation of indigenous groups, as part of a larger effort to support indigenous communities that have been displaced and harmed by the armed conflict in the region. 📸: © USA for UNHCR/Nicholas Feeney

💡 FACT: At the end of 2023, almost three quarters of forcibly displaced people were living in countries with high-to-extreme exposure to climate-related hazards. Take Hajira, a 33-year-old refugee from Somalia, for example. Hajira was forced to flee her home in 2022 due to severe drought — the worst drought the country had seen in decades. She lost her crops and livestock and fled to Kenya with her eight children to find safety. Hajira and her family are just a few of the more than 600,000 refugees living in Kenya’s Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps. Although rain returned to the Horn of Africa in early 2024, it brought with it severe weather and flooding that have now created new problems in the region.