World Refugee Day 2009
June 20th, the international community marked the 9th annual World Refugee Day, acknowledging the suffering of the 42 million people driven from their homes.
-"Dorcas has been assisting IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) from South Sudan for the last 15 years. We continue rendering them a helping hand and providing them with tools to help them build up a better life and a promising tomorrow. We are helping the IDPs to resettle though water & sanitation projects, providing them with access to clean water, health facilities and agricultural projects which will help them restart their lives again after many years of living in the desert where life was too difficult for them. As a result of the civil war, you find many homeless elderly people in the town of Wau as well as homeless children living on the streets. These children lost their parents in the war and many of the elderly their houses and families. In our view, these two groups are among the most vulnerable in society. This is why we want to do all we can to help them" says Operational Director Michel Gendi of Dorcas Aid International at headquarters in Andijk, the Netherlands.
The United Nations, which established the event in 2000, set this year's theme on "real people, real needs". World Refugee Day 2009 draws particular attention to the unmet needs of some 42 million persons who are uprooted by conflict, persecution, natural disaster and food insecurity, and thereby forcibly displaced worldwide, awaiting a solution. It is intended to remind us all that refugees are not faceless statistics, but real individuals with dignity, rights and needs.
Currently, Dorcas also renders support and assistance to refugees and IDPs in Iraq and Kenya.
(picture: an elderly IDP living on the streets of Waw, South Sudan)
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