Home Press Room

World Refugee Day Honors the Resilience of Refugees Building New Lives

New York, NY

A World Refugee Day event in New York City to honor the courage and resilience of refugees building new lives in the New York area This year’s theme is A New Home, A New Life. Topics to include: refugee contributions in their new communities, the Iraqi refugee crisis, and activism of refugee youth.

WHEN: 20 June, 2007, 6:00 pm

WHERE: The Helmsley Hotel, 3rd Floor - 42nd Street at 3rd Avenue.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Event speakers will include UN and NGO representatives, including Director of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) New York office, Mr. Pierre Bertrand, Vice- President of Resettlement at the International Rescue Committee, Mr. Robert J. Carey, and the Director of the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, Ms. Carolyn Makinson.
• Mr. Robert J. Carey will give a brief commentary on the Iraqi refugee crisis.
• A program panel will feature the New York resettlement stories of refugee families, in their own words, and offer an opportunity to engage in discussion with the refugees. Stories include a Vietnamese family who lived in the Philippines for 16 years before resettling in the United States and starting a successful restaurant in the East Village; Cuban professionals who worked entry level jobs while getting their teaching certification and now teach in the public schools in Elizabeth, NJ; and a Sierra Leonean man who was reunited with his family members after many years of separation.
• Youth in the IRC Refugee Youth Leaders in Training Program will present on their efforts to engage and strengthen their new communities.