20th June: World Refugee Day

To honor refugees across the globe, the United Nations designated 20^th June to be observed as World Refugee Day in its Resolution 55/76 on  4^th December 2000. The first World Refugee Day was observed on 20^th June 2001.

The theme of 2020 World Refugee Day: Every Action Counts

This year’s theme is to remind the citizens of each and every nation across the globe that at a time of a pandemic, anyone from the society can make a change. A small effort made by an individual or an organization can make a lot of difference in the overall global efforts to make the world a much more inclusive for all.

Significance

As per United Nations data, 20 people in every 1 minute are forced to flee from their home in order to escape terror, war and conflicts. By the end of 2019, there is a total estimate of 79.5 million people who were displaced forcibly in the world.

Despite all the plight, the courage and resilience that are shown by refugees across the globe are being celebrated today in order to further strengthen them and make them realize that not only they will survive, but also thrive towards achieving their rights and dreams.

For this, the governments across the globe are made to realize their duties on this date to protect and support the refugees.

Apart from conflicts and terror, today the world also has many refugees who were forced to leave their homes due to natural disasters such as Tsunami, Earthquake, Floods, etc.

Stats related to Refugees:

As per 2019 United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), 68% of the refugees in the world are from countries Syria (6.6 million refugees), Venezuela (3.7 million refugees), Afghanistan (2.7 million), South Sudan (2.2 million) and Myanmar (1.1 million).

Of the total 79.5 million refugees across the globe as in 2019, 26 million are under the age of 18.

Month: Current Affairs - June, 2020