Press Release 11 March 2015 ISLAMABAD: Representatives of the governments of Afghanistan, Pakistan and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today reaffirmed their commitment to the principle of voluntary repatriation, in safety and dignity, to end the protracted Afghan refugee situation. The parties agreed that intensified efforts are required in order to create an enabling environment ...

Press Release ISLAMABAD, 16 December, 2014: In an effort to ensure more sustainable transparency and accountability in Refugee Affected and Hosting Areas (RAHA) projects, the United Nations and the Government of Pakistan Tuesday inaugurated the newly-developed Management Information System (MIS). Developed with the financial support of the European Union (EU), the new system provides a comprehensive databas ...

News Stories, 8 December 2014 MIANWALI, Pakistan, December 8 (UNHCR) – When Aqeela started her teaching career 22 years ago in northern Pakistan, the toughest and most important lesson she learned was that she had to first educate the parents about the importance of letting their children, especially the daughters, go to school. She ran into this challenge after fleeing her native Afghanistan in 1992 and ma ...

News Stories, 5 December 2014 ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, December 5 (UNHCR) – When her abusive, drug addict father told Zakia* that she must marry a man twice her age, the then 15-year-old was despondent. But after the Afghan refugee protested, she was barred from leaving the family home in the northern Pakistan city of Peshawar, threatened and severely beaten by her brothers, leaving her with scars as a permanen ...

Press Release 25  November 2014 ISLAMABAD – As the world marks the “International Day to Eliminate Violence against Women” the UN refugee agency pledges a renewed commitment to address the continuing problems faced by refugee women and girls in Pakistan. This international event falls under the global “16 Days of Activism Campaign” against gender violence, which is supported by UNHCR and originates from the ...

Feature Story LAHORE, Pakistan 24 November, 2014 (UNHCR) — On a foggy morning on the edge of Lahore, a gathering of Afghan refugee women and girls were chatting and giggling. The opportunity to express themselves and be heard was a moment of enjoyment for all, except for one young woman who sat quietly among them. Gul Meena, a young woman in early twenties, wearing a red heavy traditional Afghan dress, held ...

News Stories, 20 November 2014 KABUL, Afghanistan, November 20 (UNHCR) – The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted 25 years ago today to protect children like Hasanat, Aisha and Safia. The three, aged between seven and 13, have all returned to a homeland, Afghanistan, that they had heard much about but never visited. Half of Afghanistan's 5 million returnees since 2002 were born i ...

Press Release ISLAMABAD: The UN refugee agency urges all Afghan refugees, who hold Proof of Registration (PoR) cards that have expired by 31 December 2012 and who have not yet collected their renewed PoR cards, to approach their nearest registration centre, before the deadline of 31 December 2014.  In order to continue to be considered as refugees, Afghans with PoR cards must renew their cards by this date. ...

World Humanitarian Week 2014 Celebrating humanitarian heroes Asim Syedzada, Assistant Field Safety Officer, UNHCR, Peshawar Asim Syedzada’s selfless commitment towards humanitarian causes in the militancy-hit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Province of Pakistan paved his way to further strengthen his security skills. The 34-year-old Asim joined UNHCR in 2001 as a field security assistant. He was the first United Na ...

World Humanitarian Week 2014 Celebrating humanitarian heroes Razia Kakar, a Field Coordinator with the Afghan Refugee Education Project (AREP) Struggling on many different fronts at the same time can be challenging, but passion leads to success in every sphere of life. For 34-year-old Razia Kakar, who is suffering from severe health problems, helping humanity is a noble cause. Born in a small village in Kuc ...