UNHCR to focus on Health, Education, and Sports - UNHCR Country Director

• The Country Director of UNHCR has said that efforts are being put in place to ensure the inclusion of refugees in the socio-economic development of the nation

• She said most of the refugees in Ghana have access to quality education through the help of the UNHCR

• She noted that this year’s celebration is focused on

Read full articleensuring that refugees are integrated into the health, education and sports activities in the country.

The Country Director of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Esther Kiragu, has stated that the UNHCR is geared towards ensuring the inclusion of refugees in the development discourse of the world, especially in Ghana.

Speaking at the 2021 World Refugee Day in Accra, Madam Kiragu said Ghana has taken the lead among other countries to include refugees in their development policies and programmes through the help of the UNHCR.

She explained that most refugees have been enrolled on the national health insurance scheme where they have free access to health, education among others.

“Refugees are people, they are people like you and me and I am glad that we have this beautiful theme this year on together we can achieve anything and the theme is about the power of inclusion, greater inclusion of refugees. We are shining a light on health, education and sports this year globally. I am glad to say, in Ghana we are already a step ahead. As usual, Ghana is already a step ahead. In the area of education, it is integrated into the national system and national services. We don’t have parallel structures, refugees have access to health insurance,” she said.

She also said there should be structures in place to accommodate refugees in the community in which they find themselves.

“The work we do is to expand the infrastructure, for example, the health Centre in the camps and accommodation for healthcare providers to make sure that, the host communities can absorb the population that has come to their neighbourhood,” she added.

Meanwhile, this year’s World Refugee Day is being celebrated in Accra on the theme “Inclusion: Together we can achieve anything.”

The core mandate of the UNHCR is to help millions of Europeans, Africans and others who have fled or lost their homes due to war or natural disaster.