Former Somali Refugee Wins UN Refugee Award
2023-11-30
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1The United Nations refugee agency has named a former child refugee from Somalia winner of this year's Nansen Refugee Award.
2The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recognized Abdullahi Mire for providing 100,000 books to Somali refugees in camps in Kenya. Mire is now 36 years old.
3"Last year, 2022, Angela Merkel, the former Federal Chancellor of Germany, won the award and today a young refugee from Dadaab.
4The sky is not the limit," Mire told VOA Somalia.
5Filippo Grandi is the president of the UNHCR. He said Mire is living proof that "transformative ideas" can come out of displaced communities.
6"He has shown great resourcefulness and tenacity in strengthening the quality of refugee education," Grandi said in a statement.
7Mire was born in southern Somalia in 1987.
8In 1991, his family fled the country because of Somalia's civil war.
9"I fled from Qoryooley in the Lower Shabelle region in 1991 with my mother and grew up and lived in the Dadaab refugee camps for 23 years," Mire told VOA.
10The Dadaab complex in northeastern Kenya today has a population of more than 240,000 refugees, most from Somalia.
11Over half of the camp's population are children.
12Mire finished elementary and secondary schooling while living in the camp.
13He went on to earn a college degree in public relations and journalism from Kenya's Kenyatta University.
14He said his mother gave him help and support to become, in his words, "a voice for my vulnerable population."
15Mire got a job with the United Nations International Organization for Migration in Somalia.
16He worked in the capital Mogadishu and the southern cities of Baidoa and Kismayo.
17He said his childhood in Dadaab and professional experience taught him the importance of his education.
18So, he decided to dedicate his professional life to helping his fellow refugees.
19In early 2018, he started an organization called Refugee Youth Education Hub.
20The organization centers on refugee education and youth development.
21After shortly living in Norway, he returned to Dadaab to help.
22"I had a yearning to serve my community that drew me back to the camp," he said.
23A refugee woman who was studying medicine in Dadaab inspired him to collect books for refugee camps, Mire said.
24"She told me about 20 girls normally shared one biology book. That inspired me to use social media for a book collection and donation campaign till we reached 100,000 books."
25Mire is not the only Somali who has won the Nansen Refugee Award.
26In 2012, the UNHCR presented Hawa Aden Mohamed with the award for her work to help Somali refugee and displaced females.
27The award is named for the Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat and humanitarian, Fridtjof Nansen.
28"The win is not for me alone," Mire said in a statement.
29"It is for all the volunteers I work with... It is for the children in the schools."
30I'm Dan Novak.
1The United Nations refugee agency has named a former child refugee from Somalia winner of this year's Nansen Refugee Award. 2The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recognized Abdullahi Mire for providing 100,000 books to Somali refugees in camps in Kenya. Mire is now 36 years old. 3"Last year, 2022, Angela Merkel, the former Federal Chancellor of Germany, won the award and today a young refugee from Dadaab. The sky is not the limit," Mire told VOA Somalia. 4Filippo Grandi is the president of the UNHCR. He said Mire is living proof that "transformative ideas" can come out of displaced communities. 5"He has shown great resourcefulness and tenacity in strengthening the quality of refugee education," Grandi said in a statement. 6Mire was born in southern Somalia in 1987. In 1991, his family fled the country because of Somalia's civil war. 7"I fled from Qoryooley in the Lower Shabelle region in 1991 with my mother and grew up and lived in the Dadaab refugee camps for 23 years," Mire told VOA. 8The Dadaab complex in northeastern Kenya today has a population of more than 240,000 refugees, most from Somalia. Over half of the camp's population are children. 9Mire finished elementary and secondary schooling while living in the camp. He went on to earn a college degree in public relations and journalism from Kenya's Kenyatta University. He said his mother gave him help and support to become, in his words, "a voice for my vulnerable population." 10Mire got a job with the United Nations International Organization for Migration in Somalia. He worked in the capital Mogadishu and the southern cities of Baidoa and Kismayo. 11He said his childhood in Dadaab and professional experience taught him the importance of his education. So, he decided to dedicate his professional life to helping his fellow refugees. 12In early 2018, he started an organization called Refugee Youth Education Hub. The organization centers on refugee education and youth development. 13After shortly living in Norway, he returned to Dadaab to help. 14"I had a yearning to serve my community that drew me back to the camp," he said. 15A refugee woman who was studying medicine in Dadaab inspired him to collect books for refugee camps, Mire said. 16"She told me about 20 girls normally shared one biology book. That inspired me to use social media for a book collection and donation campaign till we reached 100,000 books." 17Mire is not the only Somali who has won the Nansen Refugee Award. In 2012, the UNHCR presented Hawa Aden Mohamed with the award for her work to help Somali refugee and displaced females. 18The award is named for the Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat and humanitarian, Fridtjof Nansen. 19"The win is not for me alone," Mire said in a statement. "It is for all the volunteers I work with... It is for the children in the schools." 20I'm Dan Novak. 21Mohamed Olad Hassan wrote this story for Voice of America. Dan Novak adapted it for VOA Learning English. 22_________________________________________________ 23Words in This Story 24transformative - adj. causing or able to cause a change 25resourceful - adj. able to deal well with new or difficult situations and to find solutions to problems 26tenacious - adj. very determined to do something 27vulnerable - adj. easily hurt or harmed physically, mentally, or emotionally 28dedicate - v. to use time, money, energy, attention, etc. for something 29yearn - v. to feel a strong desire or wish for something 30inspire - v. to make want to do something