As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect refugees and host communities in the Islamic Republic of Iran, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is ensuring that another 20,000 refugees can access national health insurance, taking the numbers assisted with health insurance to 120,000. UNHCR covered the costs of insurance for some 100,000 vulnerable refugees last year. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic and the prevailing economic downturn in Iran increasing vulnerabilities amongst refugees, UNHCR has agreed to temporarily increase the number of refugees covered by the scheme. UNHCR is concerned that fewer and fewer refugees will be able to afford the cost of health insurance in 2021 and beyond, increasing the likelihood that they will not seek treatment for their urgent health needs or that they will resort to borrowing money or sending their children to work, just to be able to afford health care.

255 Rwandan refugees (104 households) were repatriated in safety and dignity to Rwanda in March 2021.

26,409 Congolese were forced to flee the attacks of non-state armed groups in the territory of Irumu (Ituri Province) in March, bringing the total number of people displaced in the area in 2021 to 44,625.

300 returnees with specific needs, mostly women and children, received core relief items in Kalemie, Tanganyika Province, to improve their living conditions.

UNHCR distributed 20 bicycles to 10 “Village Committees for Peace” in Tanganyika Province to facilitate reporting of protection incidents.

In March 2021, UNHCR and the National Commission for Refugee (CNR) relocated 157 South Sudanese refugees from Meri to the Bele site in Haut Uélé province.

The IRC is organizing a symposium to explore the financial integration of refugees, drawing on recent research conducted in Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, and Uganda. The symposium will disseminate and discuss findings and potential programming changes based on our research insights about how refugee and migrant households manage their livelihoods and finances, and whether and how they integrate into local economies. Our research explored refugees’ own financial strategies — saving, borrowing, remitting, insuring — and the role of financial services and other factors that helped or hindered their strategies. Dates: April 20, 2021 From 8 to 11 AM EDT- 3-6PM Nairobi time April 21 , 2021 From 8-10,30 AM EDT- 3-5,30 PM Nairobi time

UNHCR welcomes the generous contribution of USD 1,250,000 from the Government of Japan, which will be crucial in enabling UNHCR to enhance its support of refugees over the course of 2021. In addition to supporting access to primary healthcare and education, this funding will go towards the implementation of livelihoods activities, such as the provision of technical and vocational training and support to small businesses and workshops for refugees in Iran. In turn, refugees can then positively contribute to the Iranian host community during their stay, and further utilize their new skills in their country of origin, once conditions become conductive for their safe and dignified voluntary return. Japan is one of the biggest donors to UNHCR in support of Afghan refugees.

Le HCR, l’Agence des Nations Unies pour les réfugiés remercie le Gouvernement et le peuple du Japon pour leur soutien à la réponse de protection et d’assistance aux personnes déplacées et aux communautés hôtes au Burkina Faso. D'un montant de 1, 98 millions de dollars, soit environ 1, 09 milliards de francs CFA, cette contribution va permettre de renforcer la protection des personnes forcées de fuir et diminuer les risques de violence basée sur le genre. https://data2.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/85586

Local authorities in the DRC have reported the arrival of an estimated 92,000 individuals who fled from CAR as a result of the violence that erupted amid the December 2020 elections.