As part of the annual NGO consultations, UNHCR and some 100 NGOs called on global leaders to ensure that refugees are included in social safety nets and support services for COVID-19 and stressed the need for stronger integration of refugees and refugee-led organisations, their skills and knowledge, in humanitarian responses.

UNHCR in partnership with Oracle launched the Oracle Workforce Development program, which aims to impart digital skills training with global certifications. Five Persons of Concern (PoC (3 females, 2 males) from urban areas and eight PoC (3 females, 5 males) from Kakuma were shortlisted for the training after a competitive process. The trainees will be upskilled in Java Fundamental and Programming and later be linked to job opportunities.

PoC who can no longer support themselves in urban areas continued to request for assistance to relocate to the camps. UNHCR and the Refugee Affairs Secretariat (RAS) worked on resuming PoC’s relocation to the camps. This had been suspended towards the end of August due to a high COVID-19 positivity rate among PoC that had been tested before travel.

RAS and UNHCR agreed to set up a working group to start a remote interviewing pilot for refugee status determination. Remote interviewing will increase the number of interviews conducted.

In August, UNHCR and implementing partners in Kakuma distributed 130,000 reusable facemasks donated by the Government of the United States.

The National Council of Churches in Kenya (NCCK) donated medical equipment and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to UNHCR health partners in Kakuma to enhance the fight against COVID-19. The donation includes pulse oximeter, oxygen concentrators and cylinders, suction machines, infrared thermometers and assorted PPE.

In a press release, UNHCR urged more support for refugee higher education to withstand the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. UNHCR published its annual DAFI report on 28 September highlighting data on refugee tertiary enrolment.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi concluded his visit to Syria and Jordan with a pledge to maintain assistance to the most vulnerable as the situation in Syria continues to be extremely difficult for Syrian and refugee populations. Following a recent spike in COVID-19 infections in Syria and Jordan, including the first six confirmed cases in Jordan’s two main Syrian refugee camps, UNHCR continues to ramp up measures to confront and contain the spread of COVID-19 among UNHCR’s persons of concern.

Rozma Ghafouri, 29, an Afghan refugee living in Iran, won the 2020 Nansen Refugee Award for the Asia region, for her commendable work helping children at risk in Shiraz, Iran. As a football coach and a youth counsellor, she draws on her own at-times harsh childhood to get young refugees and undocumented Afghans aged between 11 and 15 – out of work and back into school.

UNHCR's report on consequences of underfunding, released on 18 September, describes the COVID-19 pandemic as a ‘force multiplier’, increasing the needs of the displaced population including refugees in many countries while also making those needs more difficult to address.