By Samantha Munro

World Refugee Day is an international day designated by the United Nations to honor refugees around the globe. It falls each year on June 20th and shines a light on the rights, needs, and dreams of those forced to flee their home country. It’s a day that celebrates the strength and courage of people escaping conflict or persecution.

World Refugee Day emphasizes the importance of solidarity with refugees. Solidarity with people forced to flee means finding solutions to their plight by seeking an end to conflicts, so they can return home safely. It also means ensuring they have opportunities to thrive in the communities that have welcomed them and providing countries with the resources they need to include and support refugees.

The purpose of World Refugee Day is to increase public awareness of the needs, goals, and rights of refugees. This may be done in ways that gives people the opportunity to know, appreciate, and learn about the diversity of the refugee communities of the country through events such as theater, dance, films, and music in combinations with organizations and voluntary organizations, local authorities, and schools to organize events in aid of this purpose.

The American Red Cross is known to have contributed millions to the global Red Cross network to help alleviate suffering, as the number of displaced people is at a record high, with nearly 123 million people forced to flee. Funding cuts compounded by growing anti-refugee sentiment are putting millions of lives at even greater risk. Thus, the support that the American Red Cross provides is critical, allowing teams on the ground to provide lifesaving aid such as food, shelter, water, medical care, and mental health support. Thus, when an international crisis occurs, as with the conflict in Ukraine, this support helps to aid the millions displaced within Ukraine and throughout neighboring countries.

Visit our website to learn more about the American Red Cross involvement internationally in the Ukraine and other areas of the world visit the following site and also consider being a volunteer in aiding the Red Cross with its ongoing mission “prevents and alleviates human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors.”​