UNHCR holds ‘Step for Safety’ walk in Accra

Miss Esther Kiragu, Representative of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Ghana, has called on Africans to create a truly Pan-African movement in support of families forced to flee in Africa due to wars, conflicts and persecutions.

She said with the continuing deterioration of the global humanitarian situation, the African Region continues to be significantly affected as existing conflicts go without resolution and new ones emerge.

Miss Kiragu was speaking at the end of this year’s ‘Step for Safety’ walk in Accra.

The walk, an initiative of LuQuLuQu campaign, launched by the UNNHCR, was to raise awareness of the plight of refugees and to positively change the narrative of who a refugee is perceived to be.

It also advocates for Pan-African solidarity in taking care of forcibly displaced people in the continent, which would symbolise “our commitment of the UNHCR to stand together with these families and to help support them in providing assistance and protection”.

The one-hour walk started from the Accra Polo Club to the Military Hospital and then through some principal streets of the capital and back to the Polo Club.

Miss Kiragu said in Africa alone, 24.2 million men, women and children had fled their homes because of violence, conflict or persecution.

“With the belief and commitment that people forced to flee are some of the most resilient and courageous people amongst us, we are determined to provide them a lifeline, support them attain education and help them rebuild their lives so that they can carry out living in peace and in dignity’, she added.

Dr Kofi Anani, Executive Secretary of the Ghana Refugee Board, said women and children, who are the most vulnerable, make up about 76 per cent of the people forced to flee in Africa.

He expressed the hope that the walk would inspire collective action, cooperation and solidarity to address the issues resulting from forced displacement in Africa.