News in Brief 23 November 2015 (AM)
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Syrian refugee Umfadi holds a solar powered lamp beside her 13-year-old niece Rama in her shelter at the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan. File Photo: UNHCR/S. Baldwin
New fund-raising campaign aims to brighten lives of refugees
A well-known chain of stores is teaming up with the UN with the aim of raising millions of dollars for refugees. The IKEA Foundation is partnering with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) for the Brighter Lives for Refugees campaign.
For the next three weeks, IKEA will donate one euro to UNHCR for every LED product sold in its stores or online.
Funds raised by the campaign will help provide items such as solar-powered street light and lanterns to be used in refugee camps in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
The campaign will also fund improved access to primary education for refugee children.
Progress in fight against cholera outbreak in Iraq
Progress is being made to curb the recent cholera outbreak in Iraq the World Health Organization (WHO) has said. The number of cholera cases reported in the country has continued to decline over the past three weeks.
More than 4800 cases of cholera were confirmed since the outbreak was first detected in September.
WHO says, however, that the number of cases in the most affected districts has significantly declined in recent weeks and there is no evidence of cholera spreading to new communities.
UN marks resettlement of 100,000 Bhutanese refugees
The resettlement of 100,000 Bhutanese refugees over the past eight years is being marked by the UN. The refugees have moved from camps in eastern Nepal to a number of resettlement countries, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
Australia, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States have all welcomed the displaced Bhutanese.
Some of the refugees had spent nearly 20 years in camps, hoping to one day return to Bhutan.
Veronica Reeves, United Nations.
Duration: 1’41″
