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UN High Commissioner for Refugees: â€œThe sobering reality is that there are substantial gaps in our ability to provide the refugees with essentialsâ€

17 June 2009 16:05 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Kamala Guliyeva â€“ APA. UN High Commissioner for Refugees AntÃ³nio Guterres issued a message on June 20 â€“ World Refugee Day, UNHCR Office in Azerbaijan told APA. The message says:
â€œThis is a time of enormous global uncertainty, but especially so for tens of millions of refugees and displaced people uprooted by conflict and persecution. They have lost not only their livelihoods and their homes, but their loved ones, their friends, their communities, their countries. The sobering reality is that there are substantial gaps in our ability to provide them with essentials such as shelter, health, education, nutrition, sanitation and protection from violence and abuse. As UN High Commissioner for Refugees, itâ€™s my job to do everything I can to ensure that those basic needs are met. But a recent UNHCR survey shows that a startling number remain unmet. In Cameroon, for example, refugee children from the Central African Republic suffer mortality rates in some areas seven times higher than the emergency level. Less than a third of refugee girls are in school.â€