People in Ireland are being encouraged to ‘do 1 thing’ in a new campaign to show support for refugees and asylum seekers launched in Dublin this week by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Ireland.
Sophie Magennis, head of office at UNHCR Ireland, said: “From the beginning of 2011 the world has borne witness to many new and tragic displacement and refugee crises such as those seen in Libya and Côte d’Ivoire, and the ongoing displacement of hundreds of thousands of people from famine stricken Somalia.
She added: “The sheer enormity of these situations can sometimes seem overwhelming. However, UNHCR believes that every single person can make a difference and significant impact can be felt when people show humanity to others who are in need.
Magennis said the support that communities across Ireland have shown to individual refugees “trying to re-build their lives with incredible courage, dignity and determination is a testament to that”.
She also acknowledged that “people are often overwhelmed by their own daily struggles and challenges and never more so than in these straightened times. However, in difficult economic times one thing everyone can do which doesn’t cost a single cent is to show interest in others.
“By doing one simple thing, such as learning a fact about refugees, cooking a dish from a country where many refugees come from, watching a movie or reading a book about refugees people can help humanise an issue that is too often reduced to numbers.”
More information on the ‘do 1 thing’ campaign can be found on the official website at www.unhcr.ie/do1thing.
