Former Somali Refugee Wins Global Award

GENEVA: A former refugee and journalist who has championed the right to education while putting 100,000 books in the hands of refugee children in Kenya has won the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award’s 2023 global laureate.

Abdullahi Mire, 36, was recognized for bringing the books to his compatriots languishing in refugee camps in Kenya.

“Abdullahi Mire is living proof that transformative ideas can spring from within displaced communities,” said Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. “He has shown great resourcefulness and tenacity in strengthening the quality of refugee education.” 

Born in Somalia, Mire grew up in the Dadaab refugee camps in Kenya. He was eventually resettled to Norway, but a yearning to serve his community drew him back.

He found work in Kenya as a journalist and set up the Refugee Youth Education HubLink is external, a refugee-led organization that has opened three libraries in the camps – stocked with donated books – and expanded learning opportunities for tens of thousands of displaced children and youth. 

“The win is not for me alone,” said Mire, 36. “It is for all the volunteers I work with… It is for the children in the schools,” Mire said.

“Last year, 2022, Angela Merkel, the former Federal Chancellor of Germany, won the award and today a young refugee from Dadaab. The sky is not the limit,” Mire added, while speaking to journalists.

The awards will be presented at a ceremony in Geneva on 13 December at the Global Refugee Forum 2023 which will be hosted by journalist Ann Curry.

 The event will showcase the winners’ work and feature performances by Lous and the Yakuza, MIYAVI and Ricky Kej.