UAE residents urged to join drive to walk 2b km for refugees

Participants can use their fitness apps or campaign website to log their activity.

UAE residents have been urged to join the global community in a campaign that will see participants from all over the world cover 2 billion kilometres - the total distance travelled by refugees each year to reach safety. By being part of the UN refugee agency UNHCR's '2 billion kilometres to safety' campaign, residents can show solidarity with families torn apart by war and violence. 
The campaign encourages residents to walk, run or cycle to achieve the cumulative distance that people forced to flee travel every year from their homes to reach the first point of safety, according to the UNHCR's calculations. Participants can use their fitness apps or the campaign website - www.stepwithrefugees.org - to log the kilometres and contribute to a global total. 
Houssam Chahine, UNHCR's head of private sector partnerships in the Mena region, said: "Our campaign encourages individual acts of solidarity by retracing the journey of a typical refugee family to acknowledge their strength and resilience. It is important that we remind ourselves of the real and dangerous journeys refugees are forced to take to be safe and protect their families.
"Reaching the 2 billion kilometres target will not only show us, and more importantly refugees, the support and solidarity of the world with their plight, but also bring us closer, with every step, in understanding their realities and needs, through their stories." 
People in 27 countries across Africa, Asia, Central and North America, Europe and the Middle East will take part in the campaign. The UNHCR hopes to raise awareness and mobilise 1.5 million people in support of refugees and their basic needs of food, water, shelter, healthcare, and protection.
-reporters@khaleejtimes.com