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Sole Responsibility
to Partner with Soles for Souls Canada
March 29, 2012
We're very pleased to announce that
we'll be partnering with Soles for Souls Canada for the 2012
Collection. Started in 2010 in Kelowna, BC, S4S is the
Canadian arm of the famous American charity. Their
national goal in 2012 is to collect one million pairs of
shoes! They will be helping us by donating some of
their collection to aid in our reaching our 2012 goal.
UNHCR Designates
Yemen as Destination for 2012 Collection
March 26, 2012
We have just received word from our
contacts at the United Nations High Commission for Refugees
and they have designated our upcoming collection for
distribution to Somali refugees in Yemen.
Overall, in Yemen the total population of concern is
508,355.
As in other countries in the region, civil unrest has been
intense in major urban areas throughout Yemen, leading to
violence and conflict in and around the capital city and
elsewhere. As of June 2011, public services in most parts of
the country had ceased to function, as the escalating armed
conflict began to claim an increasing number of civilian
casualties. Displacement has continued to expand to new
areas. By August 2011, some 100,000 Internally Displaced
Persons were registered in the south, in addition to the
299,000 internally Displaced Persons already in the north of
country as a result of the war between the Government and
the AlHouthi rebel movement.
The large mixed migration inflows into Yemen from the Horn
of Africa have also continued unabated, both to and through
the country, many using illegal smuggling routes. Yemen is a
party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and continues to adopt
a generous policy with Somalis by granting them refugee
status. Yemen also has a strong record of ratifying
international human rights conventions.
Every year tens of thousands of Somalis and Ethiopians –
fleeing violence, human rights abuses and poverty in the
Horn of Africa – pay smugglers to ferry them across the Gulf
of Aden to Yemen. Many never make it, as the boats capsize
or smugglers beat some of the passengers to death, force
them overboard, or disembark people too far from shores.
To alert people planning to cross the Red Sea or the Gulf of
Aden, UNHCR teamed up in 2009 with the International
Organization for Migration (IOM) and other partners to
spread awareness about the dangers. But people still keep
making the perilous crossing.
Despite growing instability and worsening security in Yemen,
a record 103,000 refugees, asylum seekers and migrants from
the Horn of Africa made the journey across the Gulf of Aden
and the Red Sea in 2011. UNHCR assists those who survive,
however, unmet needs in nutrition, shelter, education and
water supply, and better lighting in the camps are areas of
concern. Additional requirements include greater awareness
of sexual and gender-based violence and HIV and AIDS,
improved sanitation, hygiene and health care and support for
people with specific needs. With the ongoing civil unrest,
many refugees in Sana’a and other urban areas face greater
risks of violation of their human rights, and the most
vulnerable need support with subsistence and shelter.
Learn more:
http://unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/page?page=49e486ba6&submit=GO
2011 Collection Arrives in Djibouti
March 26, 2012
The shoes have arrived in Djibouti and they have provided a
few photos of the distribution so far in the Ali Addeh
Refugee Camp. As a consequence of armed conflict,
insecurity, violence, poverty and natural disasters in the
East and Horn of Africa region, Djibouti has become an
important country of passage for migratory movements.
Thousands of asylum-seekers mixed with economic migrants
enter or pass through Djibouti on a regular basis.
Identifying people with protection needs in these flows
remains a daunting task for UNHCR and the authorities.
Continued fighting between Islamist
insurgents and the Transitional Federal Government in south
and central Somalia and the drought and famine which are
currently affecting parts of the Horn of Africa region, have
brought the number of Somali arrivals in the country to some
800 a month, representing a considerable increase. The
total population of concern right now is about 16,000
people. See our photo
album.
Sole Responsibility
Update
September 20, 2011
Rattle Me Bones:
We will be collecting shoes (and toonies!) at the race
registration kit pick-up at The Ottawa Hospital’s General
Campus (Critical Care Wing), 501 Smyth Road, on Friday,
October 21st (4 p.m. - 8 p.m.) and Saturday, October 22nd
(10 a.m. - 3 p.m.).
Race Weekend: We collected 500 pair at the Capital
Race Weekend. We collected about 1000 pair through our
retail sites – thanks to MEC, Bushtukah and Bridgehead.
Business: Bentall’s at The World Exchange Plaza did a
collection too! They didn’t count the number of pairs of
shoes, they weighed them. Overall they diverted 144.6 lbs.
from landfill!
Schools: Some shoe collecting and some art creation
took place at Philemon Wright High School in Quebec.
They collected hundreds of pairs.
Media: An example of the good work we do locally.
Click here.
Recent Photos:
Click here.
Namibia Photo Album
January 30, 2011
We were very excited to receive a series of photos from the
shoe distributions in Namibia last year!
Check them out.
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