Ambassador Yamazaki presents the book “Providence Was with US: How a Japanese Doctor Turned the Afghan Desert Green” written by Dr. Nakamura Tetsu to Mr. Filippo Grandi, High Commissioner, UNHCR (25, March 2021)
2021/3/25
Due to the political unrest in Afghanistan for over 40 years, 2.2 million Afghan refugees have been hosted in Pakistan and Iran, and 3.8 million people have been internally displaced. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been actively engaging in the Afghan refugee situation over the past several decades, through creating conditions conducive to return and reintegration of Afghan refugees and IDPs, and through providing assistance to Afghan refugees as well as host communities in Pakistan and Iran.
Japan, as a major humanitarian donor, has been supporting these efforts by UNHCR in various ways, including through financial contributions. For example, in the Japanese fiscal year 2020, Japan provided over USD 16 million in total to UNHCR for its activities to support Afghan refugees, IDPs and host communities in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, including for the response to Covid-19. In July 2020, Japan became one of the first members, together with the US and the EU, of the Core Group of the Support Platform for the Solution Strategy for Afghan Refugees (SSAR). Japan, in close cooperation with UNHCR and other donors, will continue to provide support to find durable solutions to the Afghan refugee situation.
UNHCR’s messages on Twitter and Facebook on the presentation of the book
(Headquarters in Geneva) https://twitter.com/UNHCRgov/status/1374755581232353280
(Tokyo office) https://twitter.com/UNHCR_Tokyo/status/1373907530179510276
https://www.facebook.com/unhcrorjp/posts/3669601659819029