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Sometimes, we might unintentionally trigger a harmful narrative on migration. In this episode of the podcast, #, we focus on how migration is not one-dimensional and why telling individual stories of migration, which reflect all dimensions of people, can help avoid perpetuating harmful narratives.

who uses the power of music, harmonizing his saxophone jazz melodies with a recording of his mother’s own story of migration, to accentuate the emotions of her story.

“I had to share my mother's story and just to give people that perspective of that side of life and how real it is for many people to this day,” he said. “It was very important to me and also just the gratitude that I have for her and her journey.”

From September 14 to October 2, Little Amal will be walking through all boroughs of New York City. Little Amal is the giant puppet of a 10 year old Syrian refugee girl. Since July 2021, she has travelled over 9,000 km representing all children fleeing war, violence and persecution, each with their own story. Amal has been welcomed at 190 unique events in 85 cities, towns and villages, her urgent message to the world is “Don’t forget about us”. Carrying a message of hope for displaced people everywhere, especially children separated from their families, she is an international symbol of compassion and of human rights.

Five years after a Pulitzer-Prize winning photo made him the face of the Rohingya refugee crisis, a young refugee has himself.

Though women and children make up 81 per cent of the nearly 1.53 million refugees in Uganda, refugee settlement leadership has historically lacked women’s representation. Cultural barriers, coupled with limited knowledge on rights and access to education, kept women from participating in decision-making processes. In 2018, began providing trainings for the women and youth of Adjumani and Yumbe districts, which host 30.1 per cent of Uganda’s total refugee population. The trainings included instruction in literacy, numeracy, women’s rights, leadership and life skills development, public speaking, debating and radio presentation. .

The lives of survivors from the Yezidi community have been irreparably changed by unimaginable horrors. Eight years after ISIL’s heinous acts, questions: how does a community heal?

Fatema is one of 80 players who took part in the recent inaugural UNITY EURO Cup, an eight-team tournament organised by UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations, and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, at the Colovray Stadium in Nyon, Switzerland. As a former striker for the Afghan national women’s team, she played 15 games and scored five goals for her country before fleeing in the aftermath of the Taliban’s takeover in 2021. Each team consisted of a mix of refugee and national amateur players, both female and male. 

The war changed everything for Ukraine’s children, robbing them of stability, safety, their friends. As the fighting moved closer to civilian populations, life for many children moved underground. Relatively protected from the physical horrors unfolding above their heads, children who sought shelter below struggled to piece together some semblance of normalcy.  brings us the stories of five children whose lives have been upended by the war.

Food can be a powerful tool for integration, but for many people who have had to flee, food is also a constant concern. According to a recent survey by , 48 per cent of refugees in the Americas reported eating only twice a day, while 6 per cent said they were able to eat only one meal a day. In a new , refugees and displaced people in the Americas and the Caribbean share their stories and the flavours of home – past and present. Each recipe in the book combines flavours from displaced people’s countries of origin and their new homes.

Khadijah Afash is among the minority of female camp managers in north-west Syria. When she first fled from Anadan to Afrin in 2020 the fields were empty, and many families resorted to sleeping on the floor. Witnessing these scenes of hardship, Khadijah took it upon herself to establish a camp. Her determination came as no surprise to her peers; they were well aware of her reputation back in Anadan as the “Iron Woman.” Before being displaced, Khadijah was a teacher and school principal in Anadan. In her spare time, she taught illiterate women and children. "They tell me that as a woman I should stay on the margin. But I say as a woman I will be active, and I will raise a generation.” 

Francis Mbéré never thought he would enjoy life again after what he endured in his home country, the Central African Republic. But nine years after fleeing brutal attacks, he proudly parades the streets of his adopted hometown, Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of the Congo, with his friends and fellow “sapeurs.” The sapeurs are followers of a fashion and cultural movement known as La Sape – the Society of Ambiance Makers and Elegant People (Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élégantes in French) – that gained popularity in the 1960s in Brazzaville and Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The movement was inspired by 19th century French dandyism. Francis strikes a pose outside his home, joined by his son Séverin and his friend Crèche, aka Parabola.

When fireworks sound like gunfire. When sirens sound like screaming. When slamming doors sound like dropping bombs. Refugees need solidarity and love to help heal the scars of war.

Conflict and crisis exact a massive toll on women and girls. shares the stories of five women - how their lives changed since fleeing Ukraine and how their new lives in Moldova unfold.

“When I meet with children, I just see that there's always that glimpse of hope in their eyes and that drive to make a future for themselves.”

Bo Viktor Nylund has always been drawn to complex, difficult places. As the Representative of UNICEF in Syria, he is a passionate advocate for the rights of children growing up in one of the world’s most thorny and protracted crises. Children continue to bear the brunt of Syria’s decade-old conflict, with millions of childhoods shattered through destruction, displacement, and death. Meanwhile, thousands of children of Islamic State fighters, some as young as 12, are being held indefinitely in camps in the country’s north. In this episode, Bo Viktor Nylund reflects on their grim plight and his determination to do right by every Syrian child hoping for a better future through education.

“The situation of the children who have been affiliated with Islamic State is basically a time bomb in the making.”

Photo: ©UNICEF/Syria/ Delil Souleiman

Nataliia, a human rights officer working with the . She listens to the stories of internally displaced persons in Uzhhorod, in Ukraine’s west. One of her key jobs now is to gather first-hand information on allegations of international human rights abuses and humanitarian law violations resulting from the armed attack of the Russian Federation on Ukraine. She talks to people on the ground, listens to their stories and documents what has happened to them or their loved ones, looking to help verify civilian casualty incidents.

Vera is among families in Moldova receiving cash grants from the (WFP), for taking in refugees from Ukraine. Seven-year-old Eva travelled for two days by bus from Odesa, with her mother and brother, when fighting escalated close to home. After living alone for 40 years, their new host, Vera, says she is more than happy to open up her home to the new family. There, in a suburb of Chisinau, Moldova's capital, Vera has been giving Eva gardening lessons. “I taught Eva to grow tomatoes, so she has a project, but I hope she never gets to taste them,” says Vera. “It would be a shame if she's still here when they are ready for harvest. She should be at home.”