Malala warns of education funding threat for Syrian refugees

UNHCR's Nansen Refugee Award 2015

Aqeela Asifi, an Afghan refugee living in Pakistan, has been named the 2015 winner of UNHCR's Nansen Refugee Award. Asifi has dedicated her adult life to educating refugee girls. Despite minimal resources and significant cultural challenges, hundreds of girls have now passed through her school, equipped with life-long skills and brighter hopes for their futures.

Asifi fled from Kabul in 1992 with her young family. They found refuge in the desolate Kot Chandana refugee village in the south-eastern Punjab province of Pakistan. Adjusting from life in a capital city and working as a teacher, to living in a dusty refugee village was difficult. She was especially struck by the total absence of schools for girls.

It took time but eventually Asifi was allowed to start a small school under a tent. Over the years the school expanded and received the hard-won backing of community elders. Asifi's dedication has helped guide more than 1,000 girls through to the eighth grade and encouraged more schools to open in the village. Another 1,500 young people (900 girls, 650 boys) are enrolled in six schools throughout the refugee village today.

Za'atari Refugees Put Their Entrepreneurial Skills to Work

In Za'atari refugee camp, near the Syrian border in northern Jordan, a bustling market made up of barber shops, video game arcades, mobile phone stores and more is thriving, serving a resourceful population of almost 100,000 forcibly displaced people. What started out as a few shops selling second-hand clothing has developed into a shopper's delight of nearly 3,000 stores scattered across the camp. For locals strolling through what they dub the "Champs-Élysées," front load washers, pet birds, rotisserie chickens, lingerie and wedding dresses are just some of the diverse products on offer.

A UNHCR staff member who often visits the camp says all of the shops are illegal but tolerated, and the commerce has the added benefit of creating job opportunities and a more dynamic camp. Residents spend an estimated US$12 million in the camp's shopping district monthly. "Before it was really hard, but things are progressing and people are improving their shops," says Hamza, the co-owner of the Zoby Nut Shop. Photographer Shawn Baldwin visited the camp recently to capture its booming entrepreneurial spirit.

A New Camp, a New Home: A Syrian Family in Azraq

On April 30, 2014, the Jordanian government formally opened a new refugee camp in the desert east of Jordan's capital, Amman. UNHCR will help run Azraq camp, which was opened to relieve the pressure in Za'atri camp. There are currently nearly 5,000 shelters in Azraq, capable of housing up to 25,000 refugees. The first group to arrive included 47-year-old Abu Saleh and his family, who had made the long journey from northern Syria's Al-Hassakeh camp to Jordan. "When the fighting reached our village, I feared for my wife and children's lives, and we decided to leave and find safety in Jordan," said Abu Saleh, 47. The family were farmers, but in the past two years they were unable to grow any crops and lived without running water and electricity. He said the family wanted to stay in a place where they felt safe, both physically and mentally, until they could return home. Photographer Jared Kohler followed the family on their journey from the border to Azraq Camp.