Join the UNHCR (United Nations Refugee Agency) http://www.unhcr.org

I’m trying to work out how much I can afford to donate monthly to the UNHCR. It’s like fostering a third world child (which I do…) but you’re sponsoring the entire refugee camps and your money goes to getting them emergency things such as: blankets, kitchen sets, water carriers, plastic sheeting, a well to provide clean water, medicinal feeding kits, identification papers… really basic yet urgent needs. I know it can be from $10 a month if I want, but I’d like to be able to do more. I guess we’d all like to be able to do more, but these are people with nothing and I have everything I could want. Why should others in the world be worse off? It’s just not fair. I’m going to try to see how much I could give monthly as a regular donation. I have a birthday soon, so when people ask for what I want, perhaps I’ll ask for donation money too. It’s far more meaningful than “stuff.”

I first heard about the work of the UNHCR when I read Angelina Jolie’s book Notes from My Travels which documented her journeys to refugee camps and the work she undertook with the UNHCR as their ambassador. It was the most touching of books, so honest, bare, real… that it made me want to learn more about refugees and internally displaced people. Their lives are just horrid. For example many are forced to run from war torn areas, to a camp where they live on the dirt, with a tent like structure as their only shelter, no identity papers, nothing but the clothes on their backs, not enough food to eat, having been abused or hurt… you get the picture. This is why I want to join the UNHCR. I just can’t afford it yet. I donate when I can, but not to the point where I can give monthly payments. I would volunteer to help, but I already have commitments here, but others may wish to and good on you if you do!

For those that know nothing of the UNHCR, which is where I started off too, this is what their Mission Statement says. I’m hoping that in the time it takes me to be able to join, I will have passed a little information along to those humanitarians who will also help make a difference.

UNHCR – THE UNITED NATIONS REFUGEE AGENCY

UNHCR is mandated by the United Nations to lead and coordinate international action for the worldwide protection of refugees and the resolution of refugee problems.

UNHCR’s primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. In its efforts to achieve this objective, UNHCR strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State, and to return home voluntarily. By assisting refugees to return to their own country or to settle permanently in another country, UNHCR also seeks lasting solutions to their plight.

UNHCR’s efforts are mandated by the organization’s Statute, and guided by the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. International refugee law provides an essential framework of principles for UNHCR’s humanitarian activities.

In support of its core activities on behalf of refugees, UNHCR’s Executive Committee and the UN General Assembly have authorized the organization’s involvement with other groups. These include former refugees who have returned to their homeland; internally displaced people; and people who are stateless or whose nationality is disputed.

UNHCR seeks to reduce situations of forced displacement by encouraging States and other institutions to create conditions which are conducive to the protection of human rights and the peaceful resolution of disputes. In pursuit of the same objective, UNHCR actively seeks to consolidate the reintegration of returning refugees in their country of origin, thereby averting the recurrence of refugee-producing situations.

UNHCR is an impartial organization, offering protection and assistance to refugees and others on the basis of their needs and irrespective of their race, religion, political opinion or gender. In all of its activities, UNHCR pays particular attention to the needs of children and seeks to promote the equal rights of women and girls.

In its efforts to protect refugees and to promote solutions to their problems, UNHCR works in partnership with governments, regional organizations, international and non-governmental organizations. UNHCR is committed to the principle of participation, believing that refugees and others who benefit from the organization’s activities should be consulted over decisions which affect their lives.

By virtue of its activities on behalf of refugees and displaced people, UNHCR also endeavours to promote the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter: maintaining international peace and security; developing friendly relations among nations; and encouraging respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.