Refugees Magazine Issue 104 (UNHCR's World) - The sun never sets

Refugees (104, II - 1996)

In this issue, we take a global tour of some of UNHCR's worldwide activities, looking at the daily lives and work of staff members in some of the most remote places on earth.

Welcome to UNHCR's world - a world inhabited by millions of refugees and displaced people who through no fault of their own have been caught up in some of the greatest upheavals of the 20th century.

But the presence of more than 5,000 UNHCR staff in some 120 countries means it is also a concerned and caring world, one marked by countless examples of courage and perseverance as refugees strive to rebuild their shattered lives.

About 80 percent of UNHCR's staff work in the field, many of them in dangerous and difficult circumstances. The hours are long, the work is hard, and the living conditions are often primitive. Separation from family for extended periods is common. But there is also great personal satisfaction, gained from helping people when they most need it and then finding lasting solutions to their plight.

In this issue, we will take a global tour of some of UNHCR's worldwide activities, looking at the daily lives and work of staff members in some of the most remote places on earth, as well as in Geneva headquarters and elsewhere.

We'll begin in Oceania and Asia, where UNHCR's day begins, and follow the sun west through South and Central Asia, Europe, Africa, and then across the Atlantic to the Americas.

By journey's end, we'll have circled UNHCR's world, gathering insights not only into the lives of the 27 million refugees and others of concern to us, but into the motivations, challenges and successes of some of the many dedicated humanitarians who are doing their best to protect and help the uprooted, wherever they may be.

Source: Refugees Magazine Issue 104 (1996)