The number of forcibly displaced people is at an all-time high of 65.3 million as of the end of 2015, according to figures released by the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR. Nearly three months ago, June 20th to be exact, the Global Youth Ambassadors, a program that aims to build and strengthen the emerging youth movement for global education, began a campaign called #morethanarefugee. According to the Event’s page on FB, the campaign aims to:
” showcase the human stories and inspiring achievements of people who have been forced to leave their home countries.”
Inspired by Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York Refugee Stories, Lebanese Mona Hassan, the 22-year-old Global Youth Ambassador (GYA) behind the idea, explained why she feels that sharing stories and images of refugees living in Lebanon is so important. She said:
“Whether you are a refugee in your own land or someone else’s land, we are here to tell you that you are more than a number, you are more than just ‘one in 60 million, you are #MoreThanARefugee.”
Even though the exhibition took place in Lebanon, there are many more refugees in other countries, and they aren’t all Syrian. However, Lebanon is one of the top hosting countries for refugees, with about 1.1 million Syrian refugees within its borders. This makes the campaign a great opportunity to embrace Syrians and their contributions within the Lebanese society.
You can view some of the photos along with their captions here. We can all help the refugees by following this link and making a difference, one refugee at a time.
Share the Baraka and don’t forget to leave a smile 🙂 !
