Where possible, my group and I visited internally displaced people (IDPs) in Jos, Abuja... As Girl Guides, we want to support these young people and bring hope and light to an otherwise dark situation.
For over a century Girl Guides and Girl Scouts have prided themselves on their community service. When refugees began arriving in many countries their Guiding or Girl Scouting associations stepped up to lend a hand.
WAGGGS is the voice of 10 million girls in 150 countries. A number of these countries are working at local and national levels to support refugee populations, from providing practical supplies to national education programmes.
But there is still much more to do.
We want to encourage all people to reject hate and welcome refugees. We can all reach out to organisations working with refugees in our communities, listen to their needs and ask where help is needed.
The journey to safety for all refugees is harrowing, but it can be particularly difficult for women and girls exposed to a constant threat of gender-based violence.
We are calling on governments to prevent and respond to this violence, while creating safe spaces for women and girls to ensure they have privacy and dignity.
And finally, we want to see protection, support, education, skills and livelihoods to be made available to all refugees.
On World Refugee Day, and every day, we must stand together as #OneMovement, driven by the same vision – to see a world where every girl can reach her potential, speak out and make change.
Refugees will always have a home in Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting
"I am so proud to be leading an organisation with an impressive history of tolerance and solidarity." Read more from Chief Executive, Sarah Nancollas, this World Refugee Day.
Read our World Refugee Day policy paper
Read our policy paper for the calls we're making on local, national and international decision makers at this crucial time. Download the document in English, French, Spanish or Arabic.
Share Your Story
Take a photo of your Girl Guides or Girl Scouts in action supporting refugees.
Show the world the strength of our global Movement by sharing your photo using #OneMovement on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.
We look forward to hearing from you about how you are helping refugees wherever you are and to sharing your stories with our global community.
Guides represent the principles of peaceful coexistence and acceptance, so this is why we should not only cultivate these ideas to our teams, but also in the wider society.
Ongoing work
At the Forum 2017 in Delhi, three European Member Organisations from Germany, Finland and Greece had the opportunity to present projects that demonstrated the role Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting can play in welcoming new/vulnerable groups into society, the GG/GS Method and our non-formal education approach as a way of raising understanding and knowledge and the work that has been done by Member Organizations.
In line with the proposed 36th World Conference Motion 21 that passed and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals Framework, WAGGGS is working to support Member Organisations to take action in supporting human rights and addressing inequality and inequity in response to the current migrant and refugee situation.
In the Shoes of the Migrant
The joint WAGGGS and WOSM working group of the Europe Region, called “Human Rights and Refugees”, created a board game to raise awareness about migration and asylum seeking in Europe and in the world nowadays.