Global support for protecting refugees remains resilient, with most people backing asylum despite ongoing concerns about border management, integration, and the fairness of refugee systems.

"Refugees do bring so much to the community, they bring a whole different culture, a whole different lens on life, and that is powerful and important."

War is Mary Maker’s earliest memory. Born in South Sudan and named Nyiriak — meaning "war" — she spent her youth living and working in one of the world’s largest refugee camps. Now a Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, she is raising her voice on behalf of those she left behind, helping refugee students land scholarships to top universities.

“I want to be seen. I want to be heard. I want to be acknowledged. I want to be at the table, making decisions and feeling like a part of something. Are you able to see us? Are you? Are you able to go beyond the news and really understand that this is someone like you?”

After her family fled to safety, Mary built a new life of opportunity through education and hard work – finding her feet, and her voice, on stage. In this episode, she shares how she overcame a childhood marred by death and conflict, and how theater became both her refuge and her path forward.

Photo: ©UNHCR

When powerful earthquakes struck parts of Venezuela in June 2026, thousands of families were forced from their homes in seconds. For Gusmaira, the disaster came just after giving birth. With her newborn still in hospital and communications disrupted, she spent hours not knowing whether her baby was safe. Like many families affected by the earthquakes, Yuleima and Gusmaira are now rebuilding their lives one day at a time. Despite the uncertainty, they are finding strength in their families and communities as they move forward. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and partners are supporting the government-led response, helping families access protection services, psychosocial support, documentation, medical care and other emergency assistance as they recover from the disaster. Across Venezuela, communities are beginning the long process of rebuilding. UNHCR continues to work alongside affected families, helping them move beyond survival and take the first steps towards restoring stability, dignity and hope. Learn more, and support families affected by the earthquakes in Venezuela.

For a few weeks, the world looks in the same direction, shaped by the same matches, the same moments, the same emotions. But beyond the stadiums and the spectacle, football has always existed in its simplest form: a ball, a space, and people willing to play. For refugees, football or soccer - it is a chance to dream again. When you have lost everything, that space matters.

UNHCR has launched the “Gamechanging Team,” a symbolic football squad captained by Canadian star Alphonso Davies, to spotlight the resilience and talent of refugees worldwide ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Featuring players and coaches with displacement backgrounds, the initiative highlights how sport can create opportunity, inclusion, and hope. UNHCR says the campaign aims to challenge stereotypes around refugees while drawing attention to the record number of people forcibly displaced by conflict, persecution, and climate crises around the world.

Escalating airstrikes in Lebanon have displaced hundreds of thousands, forcing families into overcrowded shelters as humanitarian resources struggle to keep pace

In Renk, South Sudan, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Goodwill Ambassador Kristin Davis met families who have fled escalating violence, insecurity and human rights violations in Sudan – many for the second or third time. At the Joda border crossing and Renk Transit Centre, she saw UNHCR and partners providing shelter, health care, clean water, sanitation and protection, even as needs far exceed available resources and funding remains critically low. Women and children, who make up about 80 per cent of those fleeing, shared harrowing stories of violence and loss, while support services for survivors are being forced to close. Discover why Davis says this crisis “demands more attention, more resources and more action – now”.

In Sudan’s White Nile State, the reopening of a rehabilitated secondary school is restoring hope and education to hundreds of displaced and local girls after years of conflict.

Theo James visited Syria to meet returning refugees and displaced families, highlighting both hope for rebuilding after years of conflict and the urgent need for continued humanitarian support, in his role as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador.

Karla’s journey from repeated rejection to leadership at Coca-Cola FEMSA shows how inclusion unlocks talent and opportunity. After Mexico’s pledges at the 2019 Global Refugee Forum, UNHCR’s Programa de Integración Local helped connect refugees with jobs, documentation, and relocation support. Since 2016, more than 50,000 refugees have found employment, supported by over 600 companies. For refugees like Haitian technician Angelet François, work restores dignity, stability, and hope. These experiences prove that hiring refugees is not charity but smart economics, strengthening businesses, communities, and local economies.

The UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award is an annual humanitarian honour presented by the UN Refugee Agency to an individual, group or organization that has gone above and beyond the call of duty to protect and assist refugees, displaced and stateless people around the world. The 2025 winners include heroes from Cameroon, Tajikistan, Iraq, Mexico and Ukraine, whose efforts have transformed the lives of tens of thousands of people through evacuation, integration and sustained support for refugees. Watch the 2025 ceremony with appearances by the regional winners and performances by award-winning artists.

From today until 17 December, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is hosting the Global Refugee Forum Progress Review 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland. The meeting brings together senior government officials and key stakeholders to assess progress in implementing pledges made at the 2019 and 2023 Forums. This high-level event aims to review global, regional, and country-level stocktaking efforts; strengthen support for refugees and host countries, accelerate pledge implementation through a multi-stakeholder approach; and identify priority areas requiring further action ahead of the 2027 Forum.

A journey from fleeing conflict to playing at the highest levels of basketball shows what’s possible when refugees are given the opportunity to thrive.

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Maya Ghazal has become the world’s first female Syrian commercial pilot from a refugee background, having officially received her “wings” to fly Boeing 737 jets as a second officer. Flight training is a demanding and competitive process, and only 5 per cent of the world’s pilots are women. Having arrived in the UK ten years ago, Ghazal taught herself English and graduated with a degree in aviation engineering, then completed a 19-month intensive cadet training programme. She advocates for safe legal routes and education for refugees.

After years of war and displacement, UNHCR and partners are helping residents return to Taiz, where local resilience and international support are driving the city’s fragile recovery.