And they're off: The Human Race comes to Geneva
Almost 100 UNHCR staffers and supporters sacrificed their lunch on Friday and pounded the streets of Geneva to raise money for refugee children in Chad.
GENEVA, August 29 (UNHCR) - Almost 100 UNHCR staff members and supporters sacrificed their lunch on Friday and pounded the streets of Geneva to raise money for the education of refugee children in Chad.
The UN refugee agency organized a 10-kilometre run and a 5-km walk along Lake Geneva and around the leafy UN quarter of the Swiss city as part of the Nike+ Human Race, a fund-raising event that will gather an estimated 1 million runners in 25 cities around the world on Sunday and raise at least US$500,000 for UNHCR.
With five minutes to go before the scheduled start, the Geneva event looked as though it was doomed to failure with just a handful of people present in their running shorts and UNHCR tee-shirts. But then a flood of amateur athletes of all sizes, ages and colours arrived in front of the UNHCR headquarters for the start.
UNHCR Director of External Relations Nick Van Praag, who will be in London on Sunday to take part in the Human Race, welcomed staff and runners from sister agencies and embassies.
"All the miles that you walk or you run will be registered and will count towards the resources that UNHCR will gain from this effort," Van Praag said. "We've already been guaranteed half-a-million dollars [by Human Race organizer and UNHCR corporate partner, Nike] for our work. The more you walk, the more you do, the more we'll get."
Shortly afterwards, the Geneva race began under a light breeze and clear skies. A keen core of about 20 runners set off at a cracking pace, keen to burn off some calories over their 10-km route, while the rest strolled downhill towards the lake at a leisurely pace. An hour later and they were back in front of UNHCR, a good deed for the day done.
"It was a way to connect Geneva with the main Human Race and the cities where it is being held," said participant Carla Thachuk, a fund-raiser for UNHCR. "Running 10 kilometres is nothing compared to the difficulties that the refugees in Chad face on a daily basis," she added.
Van Praag said the money that the agency receives from the Geneva event and the Human Race proper will be used to equip schools and pay the salaries of more than 500 teachers in camps housing almost 250,000 Sudanese refugees in east Chad. This programme is part of UNHCR's ninemillion.org campaign to provide education and sports opportunities for all refugee children.
UNHCR, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Lance Armstrong Foundation will be the three beneficiaries of funds raised by the Human Race. Nike pledged to give each of the three beneficiaries US$500,000. Runners will specify which of the three organizations they wish to support and extra monies raised will be allocated based on this.
The UN refugee agency will have runners in all corners of the world helping to elevate the cause of refugee children on Sunday. From sole UNHCR staff members running in Dakar, Senegal and Tbilisi, Georgia, to the 3,000 refugees and host community members running in Nepal.
Related news and stories
Baseball club brings a bit of home to Venezuelan refugee and migrant kids in Peru
UNHCR, partners seek $876m for Rohingya refugees facing 'chilling fog of uncertainty' and for Bangladeshi hosts
As security worsens in DR Congo, UNHCR and partners seek US$605 million to assist Congolese refugees across Africa
UN and partners appeal for US$5.6 billion to help millions affected by Ukraine war
Football brings refugees and host community together in Angola
Lighting up the lives of forcibly displaced people in Mozambique
Your search for « Nike » matched 174 results. Displaying page 17 of 20 pages.
-
UNHCR Global Report 2005 - Funding UNHCR's programmes
1 Jun 2006 ... ... Private donors in the Netherlands Stichting Vluchteling 7,272,184 Dutch Postcode Lottery (NPL) 1,801,107 Nike EMEA Netherlands 260,041 Miscellaneous donors 3,444 Total for private donors in the ...... -
Update on budgets and funding (EC/72/SC/CRP.7)
25 Mar 2021 ... ... Foundation 900,000 Google 716,291 Microsoft Corporation 513,848 Jolie-Pitt Foundation 305,500 Nike Beaverton 264,529 Tides 261,997 Big Win Philanthropy 250,000 Major League Baseball Players Trust ...... -
Refugees Magazine Issue 119: The Americas: the debate over asylum in the U.S. and Canada
1 Jun 2000 ... ... later as a social worker earning the equivalent of around $10 a month until 1997 when a visit by a delegation from the International Olympic Committee and a new pair of Nike shoes changed his life. ...... -
Evaluation of UNHCR's Livelihoods Strategies and Approaches (2014-2018) - Turkey Case Study
Dec 2018 ... ... at the 27 See: https://www.essncard.com/about-card/ Box 1: Big brand advocacy Big brands like Puma, Adidas, and Nike wrote a letter to the GoT in 2015 lobbying for work permits for Syrian refugees. ...... -
75th meeting of the Standing Committee - Update on budgets and funding
20 Jun 2019 ... ... 3,418,181 Dutch Postcode Lottery (NPL) 2,525,253 Miscellaneous donors in the Netherlands 590,926 Nike European Operations Netherlands BV 38,479 Total private donors in the Netherlands 6,572,839 ...... -
UNHCR Global Report 2004 - Donor Profiles
1 Jun 2005 ... ... USD 718,968 of which 100% was earmarked as follows: Annual programme budget Ethiopia: 718,968 (D) Nike EMEA (NLD) USD 284,762 of which 100% was earmarked as follows: Annual programme budget Global ...... -
UNHCR Global Report 2005 - Donor Profiles
1 Jun 2006 ... ... USD 100,212 earmarked for Global programmes (of which, corporate partnership activities: 12,712; HIV/AIDS programmes in Southern Africa: 87,500) Nike EMEA (Netherlands) USD 260,041 earmarked for Kenya ...... -
UNHCR Global Report 2006 - Funding UNHCR's Programmes
1 Jun 2007 ... ... Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (Portugal) 0 150,000 0 150,000 Estonia 22,965 104,993 0 127,958 Nadimco AG (Switzerland) 126,530 0 0 126,530 Nike EMEA (Netherlands) 122,849 0 0 122,849 Conselho ...... -
Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (covering the period from 1 January 2009 to mid-2010)
7 Oct 2010 ... ... In particular, the Office deepened its collaboration with key partners in its Council of Business Leaders, including Manpower, Microsoft, Nike, A/65/12 10-57148 16 PricewaterhouseCoopers, and WPP. ......