News

Commemoration of the World Refugee Day coincides with the 20 Years in Tajikistan

On June 20, 2013, UNHCR Tajikistan and its partner NGO, with cooperation from the Afghan refugee community, organized a music concert and some activities for children including sports games and face painting. Around 400 refugees were invited to Cinema "Tajikistan" to enjoy these activities and the concert. During the event, DAFI students volunteered to organize activities and help.
Before the concert, representatives of the Afghan refugee community, UNHCR, a UNHCR implementing partner and Ministry of Internal Affairs spoke to the audience. A professional Afghan signer sang songs accompanied by dancing Afghan refugee children. Songs and dances of Afghan refugee children followed. A play on the importance of peace was presented by students from a private English school run by an Afghan refugee. Ten top students (academic excellence and achievements in sports) were given gifts (UNHCR watches and pens).

As 2013 is the 20th anniversary of UNHCR in Tajikistan, the office organized a conference and reception for the commemoration, and invited around 150 people from partners including the government, international organizations, UN agencies and the diplomatic corps. The conference included speeches from representatives of UNHCR, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Internal Affairs, and of the Afghan Community. They all remarked on the 20 years of work of UNHCR.
After the conference, a small art exhibition, prepared by three refugee artists, was mounted. Art works were on sale to help the artists earn money to support their family and sustain their art activities.
For the commemoration of the 20th year of anniversary, UNHCR Tajikistan produced a documentary film and 150 copies of newsletters. The film was shown during the conference and praised by the audience.