Refugee Week 2020: Join us online

This year Refugee Week is a digital festival. We are hosting a range of events, highlighting the positive contributions that refugees and those working with them bring to the UK, as well as the challenges they face in 2020 and beyond.

Refugee Week is a UK-wide festival highlighting the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees here.

It’s a celebration, and a way of showing that #EveryActionCounts to support the displaced, and demonstrating just some of the ways we can all stand #WithRefugees.

Join us in celebrating Refugee Week from 15 - 22 June. This year, the festival has moved online, so wherever you are, you can join our events.

Programme of events from UNHCR and partners

Monday 15 June, 6pm 

Student Action for Refugees, Warwick host a panel discussion on refugees and COVID 19. 

'Imagine... A Better World'

The panel will be discussing the problems which refugees and asylum seekers face, the worsened problems due to the coronavirus pandemic, and what we can do on a local, regional and international scale to help create a better world. Join the event


Tuesday 16 June 12pm - 12.45pm

Live panel hosted by WeWork and UNHCR. 

'Entrepreneurship through adversity: Refugee entrepreneurship and what can we learn about resilience in times of struggle.' 

Join Joanna Ibrahim, a Syrian social entrepreneur and co-Founder of Bluefields Development and Open Taste Project, Ana Maria Alvarez Monge, the CEO of MigrationHub and Jakob Øster, Partnerships Officer at UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and be inspired. Join the event


Wednesday 17 June 5pm - 6:30 pm

APPG on Migration Refugee Week event: A Displaced Talent Visa?

A discussion of the opportunities and challenges of using labour market mobility as a complementary pathway for refugees to come to the UK in the new immigration system - and to discuss a potential amendment to the Immigration Bill before parliament to put this into effect by creating a Displaced Talent Visa.

Chaired by The Lord Bishop of Durham, Rt Revd Paul Butler

Speakers: Marina Brizar (UK Director, Talent Beyond Boundaries), Stephen Hale (CEO, Refugee Action), Sasha Ali (Resettlement Officer, UNHCR) Join the event


Thursday 18 June 12pm - 12.30pm

WeWork and UNHCR host a live feed with UNHCR Jordan to mark the launch of Goal Click Refugees.

'Camp life and football by the Syrian border.' 

Live from the Za’atari Refugee Camp in Jordan –the world’s largest camp for Syrian refugees– WeWork, Goal Click and UNHCR invite you to hear from 21 year old Fawzi, a coach and former professional footballer living in Za’atari after he fled Syria.

Fawzi will share what it was like growing up in Syria, and how the Za’atari Refugee Camp has impacted his life. He will be joined by Lilly Carlisle from UNHCR, who will be sharing the latest updates on their refugee relief efforts, and Matthew Barrett, Founder of Goal Click, a storytelling project empowering refugees around the world to document their lives through football and photography. Join the event

 

Live panel event hosted by TRF and UNHCR.

'Looking to the Future: Challenges and opportunities for refugees in the COVID-19 era.'

As the COVID-19 pandemic hits economies globally, what new challenges do refugees face when trying to rebuild their lives and their livelihoods?

Moderated by Belinda Goldsmith, the Editor in Chief at Thomson Reuters Foundation, this event will feature contributions from: 

Gillian Triggs, UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection

Gideon Maltz, Executive Director of TENT Partnership for Refugees

Maya Ghazal, UNHCR high profile supporter

Join the event


Friday 19 June 12pm - 12.45pm

Live panel hosted by WeWork and UNHCR

'Live Feed Talk from Egypt, exploring the work of refugee artisans with MADE51'

Live from Egypt, WeWork and UNHCR invite you to immerse yourself into the workshop of Yadawee, a social enterprise creating traditional Egyptian handicrafts and member of MADE51 - UNHCR's brand for refugee made products. 

You'll hear the stories of refugee artisans and the impact MADE51 and Yadawee has had on their lives since coming to Egypt. The artisans will also guide us through the steps on how to make face masks and show us their current production, as they responded to a rising global demand for re-usable masks in midst of the current crisis. Join the event

 

Screening and discussion hosted by The High Commission of Canada in the UK and Bertha Doc House.

Film screening of Inside my Heart, a film which features three families who are forced to flee war-torn Syria and Afghanistan, seeking safe harbour on foreign shores. The film delivers a vital reminder about the families and individuals who have been swept up in a global crisis that has seen more than 68 million people driven from their homes.

Followed by a discussion and Q and A with Debra Kellner, Director or Inside my Heart, and Rossella Pagliuchi-Lor, UNHCR Representative to the United Kingdom. Join the event.


Discover Refugee Week with UNHCR