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Annual Nansen Refugee Award presented to Japanese optometrist
3 Oct 2006 The Nansen Refugee Award 2006 was formally presented to Japanese optometrist Dr. Akio Kanai in Geneva on Monday for his work in improving the sight of tens of thousands of uprooted people around the world over the past two decades. -
Japanese ambassador visits resilient IDPs in foothills near Dili
14 Jul 2006 Japanese Ambassador Kenji Shimizu received a warm welcome from villagers when he helped a UNHCR mission distribute aid to displaced people outside the Timor-Leste capital Dili. Japan has donated US$2 million towards the refugee agency's emergency relief operations in Timor-Leste. -
Convoy carries 10,000th Sudanese refugee repatriated with UNHCR help
5 Jul 2006 A milestone was reached earlier this week, when a convoy of excited refugees crossed the Ugandan border into southern Sudan. They included the 10,000th Sudanese refugee to be repatriated by UNHCR under a programme launched in December. -
2006 Nansen Refugee Award goes to Japanese man with global vision
4 Jul 2006 A Japanese optometrist wins the Nansen Refugee Award for helping improve the vision of more than 100,000 uprooted people around the world over the past two decades. Dr. Akio Kanai will formally receive the annual prize later this year in Geneva. It includes a US$100,000 grant from Norway and Switzerland for a refugee-related project of the winner's choice. -
Sudanese refugees learn new skills in UNHCR-funded course in Uganda
3 Jul 2006 The students, wearing jumpsuits and baseball caps rather than gowns and mortarboards, proudly accepted their awards at a UNHCR-funded mechanical repair workshop in northern Uganda. They hope to use their skills to benefit their communities once they can return to their homes in southern Sudan. -
UNHCR takes on new role protecting Ugandans displaced by civil war
22 May 2006 In a departure from its usual role of aiding refugees, the UN refugee agency has selected three African countries as pilots for a new involvement with internally displaced people. Uganda's 1.5 million people displaced by a rebellion by the brutal Lord's Resistance Army, will be among the first beneficiaries. -
Singing and dancing greets the first South Sudanese refugees to return home from Uganda
3 May 2006 Welcomed home by singing and cheering compatriots, the first Sudanese refugees returning to South Sudan from years of exile in Uganda complete the two-day journey to their villages. -
First convoy of Sudanese refugees from Uganda arrives in South Sudan
2 May 2006 The first convoy carrying southern Sudanese refugees home from exile in Uganda arrives to a warm welcome in the town of Kadjo Keji. UNHCR expects to take hundreds more refugees home before the onset of the rainy season in June. -
Sudanese refugees from Uganda prepare to go home
26 Apr 2006 The first group of Sudanese refugees from Uganda are on a three-day "go-and-see" visit to their original villages in South Sudan. The trip follows an official visit to Uganda last week by people from their home district who, now that the war is over, are eager to welcome their fellow Sudanese back home.