Rome (Italy). World Refugee Day is celebrated on 20 June 2021, declared by the United Nations and celebrated for the first time on 20 June 2001 to commemorate the approval in 1951 of the Convention on the status of refugees, which defines the rights of those who have obtained asylum and the responsibilities of the Nations that welcome them.
The Day aims to raise public awareness of the conditions of millions of refugees and asylum seekers who, forced to flee from wars, violence, and persecution, leave their families and their homes to seek safety in another Country.
From the information of report 2020, there are more than 80 million refugees, equal to 1% of the world population. More than 30 million are children and young people under the age of 18. The number of people fleeing in search of safety inside or outside their own Countries has almost doubled in the span of a decade, with fewer and fewer refugees able to return home.
Together we can make a difference is the campaign for World Refugee Day 2021 promoted by UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, to call for greater inclusion of refugees in health systems, schools, and sports.
“Refugees are students and teachers, they are athletes, they are cooks, they are doctors and nurses. They bring with them in the flight a wealth of skills that can enrich the host communities, becoming precious resources for society and for the common good”, explains Dr. Chiara Cardoletti, UNHCR Representative for Italy, the Holy See, and San Marino .
Work and formation contribute to personal self-esteem and allow refugees to become independent, making their contribution to the economy of the host communities. Studying helps them build a better future for themselves, their families, and society. Sport promotes physical and psychological well-being, fostering community relationships.
Study, work, and sport are fundamental elements in the Salesian reception centers for refugees which, through the educational system of Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello, aim at the harmonious and integral growth of the person, promoting their dignity and full realization.
The World Day will be celebrated with a series of events, starting with the Press Conference, in which the statistical report of the UNHCR Global Trends 2020 on forced migration in the world will be presented, with the intervention of Dr. Chiara Cardoletti and the testimonies of academic and employment inclusion of some refugees.
Among the initiatives, the Awareness Festival, is the sporting event organized by Liberi Nantes in the area of the Soccer for Unity project funded by the European Community and led by the UEFA Foundation for Children. On 19 June, 100 young people aged 12 to 26 will descend on the field at the Fulvio Bernardini sports facility in Rome, to demonstrate the potential of soccer to promote social inclusion and gender equality.
On June 20, the Fashion Deserves the World project will be launched, which provides for the insertion of 15 refugees and migrants in Italian fashion companies, with an event on the theme of the labor inclusion of refugees at Palazzo Parigi in Milan, organized by the National Chamber of Fashion in collaboration with UNHCR.
The date of 20 June 2021 also marks the closure of the International Campaign of Caritas Internationalis – a Catholic organization to which all the national Caritas belong – “Share the journey”, inaugurated on 27 September 2017 by Pope Francis with the invitation: “Brethren, we are not afraid to share the journey! We are not afraid! We are not afraid to share hope!” The objective of the Campaign was the creation of spaces and opportunities for encounters between migrants, refugees, and local communities, promoting the culture of encounter and mutual knowledge, with 130 initiatives carried out by 162 national Caritas, with the support of FAO, UNHCR, and other world organizations.
In the Press Conference at the end of the Campaign, which took place on 15 June 2021 in Rome in the Press Office of the Holy See, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and President of Caritas Internationalis, underlined how the initiative has helped to “Reach out to migrants, to embrace their poverty and suffering, to lift them with the conviction that they are not numbers, but people with names, stories, and dreams” and invited them to continue “to share the journey with migrants, especially at this very difficult time.”
Msgr. Bruno-Marie Duffé, Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, recognized as fruits of the Campaign in the openness of so many people whom he saw “approaching migrants, opening their arms and hearts” and how migration offers an opportunity to overcome fears and, through the encounter, to be enriched by the diversity of each person’s gifts.
“Towards an ever greater us” is the theme of the 107th World Day of Migrants and Refugees which will be celebrated on 26 September 2021, and can be prepared for by reading the Message of Pope Francis.
