The world acknowledged World Refugee Day last week on June 20, giving the international URI community a chance to reflect on Cooperation Circles’ work to help refugees throughout the world.
Many URI groups are extremely active in this area. Members organize recurring donation drives and refugee camp visits in places like Uganda, Palestine, Myanmar, and Bulgaria, helping refugee children and their families to feel acknowledged and valued. The photo above shows members of Iris Women distributing charitable donations to Syrian refugees last month.
In response to concerns over recent news of refugee families separated at the US border, Cooperation Circles in the URI North America region gathered for a virtual meeting specifically focused on how local interfaith groups can help affected families, and how to respond more effectively to similar situations in the future. The San Francisco Interfaith Council, a URI member group, planned a vigil for people of every faith background to come together to protect immigrants’ human rights.
Victor H. Kazanjian, Jr., URI Executive Director, issued a Call to Action on Behalf of Refugees, which you can read in full here.