Nansen Refugee Award honours Kyrgyz lawyer for work with stateless people

October 8, 2019

Human rights lawyer Azizbek Ashurov speaks at the Nansen Refugee Award

The 2019 winner of the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award is Azizbek Ashurov, a lawyer whose work has supported the efforts of the Kyrgyz Republic in becoming the first country in the world to end statelessness.

On Monday night, IKEA managers from 24 countries were happy to witness Ashurov receive his award, as special guests at the ceremony in Geneva. The event was hosted by UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, and supported by the IKEA Foundation and the Canton of Geneva.

Millions of people around the world are stateless, which means they are not recognised as a national of any country. Deprived of legal rights and basic services, stateless people are marginalised and vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.

The right to a future

Motivated by his own family’s difficult experience of achieving citizenship after arriving from Uzbekistan, Ashurov offered free legal advice and assistance to displaced, stateless and undocumented people in southern Kyrgyzstan. He said: “I realised that if it was this difficult for me, with my education, and as a lawyer, then imagine how hard it must be for an ordinary person.”

Through his organisation he has helped over 10,000 people gain Kyrgyz nationality after they became stateless following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Among them, some 2,000 children will now have the right to an education and a future with the freedom to travel, marry and work.

Opportunities for refugees

Earlier in the day, IKEA leaders gathered at the IKEA Geneva store to discuss how we can create a better everyday life and more opportunities for refugees.

Hamdi Ulukaya, Founder and CEO of Chobani, another company leading the way in making a stand for refugees, said: “Coming together in an IKEA store discussing this serious human issue is inspiring to me. There is magic in bringing people together to create opportunities for others to shine. When a refugee gets a job he stops being a refugee.”

Read more about Nansen Award winner Azizbek Ashurov.

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UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency
https://www.unhcr.org/

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🚍🌱🚖 Transforming road transport for #PeopleAndPlanet. Decarbonising transportation is essential to decarbonising society. There are an estimated 1 billion polluting vehicles on the world’s roads, accounting for approximately 15% of annual greenhouse gas emissions. Making the shift to electric vehicles is necessary and urgent. That’s why the IKEA Foundation recently announced a $100 million investment in Drive Electric Campaign’s new Leapfrogging Partnership: a philanthropic effort to supercharge the transition to zero-emission vehicles in emerging markets across Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. Nearly 40% of the world’s transportation demand is committed to electric vehicles by 2050, driven by smart government policies and business commitments supported by Drive Electric Campaign’s network of partners. But clean transport and its benefits – from workers saving money on fuel to children breathing cleaner air – are not yet equally distributed. The goal of the Leapfrogging Partnership is to accelerate access to clean, affordable electric vehicles all over the world. #DriveElectric #ElectricVehicles #AirPollution #EnergyTransformation #RoadTransformation
🚍🌱🚖 Transforming road transport for #PeopleAndPlanet. Decarbonising transportation is essential to decarbonising society. There are an estimated 1 billion polluting vehicles on the world’s roads, accounting for approximately 15% of annual greenhouse gas emissions. Making the shift to electric vehicles is necessary and urgent. That’s why the IKEA Foundation recently announced a $100 million investment in Drive Electric Campaign’s new Leapfrogging Partnership: a philanthropic effort to supercharge the transition to zero-emission vehicles in emerging markets across Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. Nearly 40% of the world’s transportation demand is committed to electric vehicles by 2050, driven by smart government policies and business commitments supported by Drive Electric Campaign’s network of partners. But clean transport and its benefits – from workers saving money on fuel to children breathing cleaner air – are not yet equally distributed. The goal of the Leapfrogging Partnership is to accelerate access to clean, affordable electric vehicles all over the world. #DriveElectric #ElectricVehicles #AirPollution #EnergyTransformation #RoadTransformation
🚍🌱🚖 Transforming road transport for #PeopleAndPlanet. Decarbonising transportation is essential to decarbonising society. There are an estimated 1 billion polluting vehicles on the world’s roads, accounting for approximately 15% of annual greenhouse gas emissions. Making the shift to electric vehicles is necessary and urgent. That’s why the IKEA Foundation recently announced a $100 million investment in Drive Electric Campaign’s new Leapfrogging Partnership: a philanthropic effort to supercharge the transition to zero-emission vehicles in emerging markets across Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. Nearly 40% of the world’s transportation demand is committed to electric vehicles by 2050, driven by smart government policies and business commitments supported by Drive Electric Campaign’s network of partners. But clean transport and its benefits – from workers saving money on fuel to children breathing cleaner air – are not yet equally distributed. The goal of the Leapfrogging Partnership is to accelerate access to clean, affordable electric vehicles all over the world. #DriveElectric #ElectricVehicles #AirPollution #EnergyTransformation #RoadTransformation
🚍🌱🚖 Transforming road transport for #PeopleAndPlanet. Decarbonising transportation is essential to decarbonising society. There are an estimated 1 billion polluting vehicles on the world’s roads, accounting for approximately 15% of annual greenhouse gas emissions. Making the shift to electric vehicles is necessary and urgent. That’s why the IKEA Foundation recently announced a $100 million investment in Drive Electric Campaign’s new Leapfrogging Partnership: a philanthropic effort to supercharge the transition to zero-emission vehicles in emerging markets across Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. Nearly 40% of the world’s transportation demand is committed to electric vehicles by 2050, driven by smart government policies and business commitments supported by Drive Electric Campaign’s network of partners. But clean transport and its benefits – from workers saving money on fuel to children breathing cleaner air – are not yet equally distributed. The goal of the Leapfrogging Partnership is to accelerate access to clean, affordable electric vehicles all over the world. #DriveElectric #ElectricVehicles #AirPollution #EnergyTransformation #RoadTransformation
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🚍🌱🚖 Transforming road transport for #PeopleAndPlanet. Decarbonising transportation is essential to decarbonising society. There are an estimated 1 billion polluting vehicles on the world’s roads, accounting for approximately 15% of annual greenhouse gas emissions. Making the shift to electric vehicles is necessary and urgent. That’s why the IKEA Foundation recently announced a $100 million investment in Drive Electric Campaign’s new Leapfrogging Partnership: a philanthropic effort to supercharge the transition to zero-emission vehicles in emerging markets across Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. Nearly 40% of the world’s transportation demand is committed to electric vehicles by 2050, driven by smart government policies and business commitments supported by Drive Electric Campaign’s network of partners. But clean transport and its benefits – from workers saving money on fuel to children breathing cleaner air – are not yet equally distributed. The goal of the Leapfrogging Partnership is to accelerate access to clean, affordable electric vehicles all over the world. #DriveElectric #ElectricVehicles #AirPollution #EnergyTransformation #RoadTransformation
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Our food systems are not working for people and the planet. We must transition to an approach that respects the environment and ensures the wellbeing of people now and in the future. 🥕 At the World Circular Economic Forum our Programme Manager, Annelies Withofs, talked about the Circular Food Systems for Rwanda programme which supports farmers, entrepreneurs, and businesses to shift towards #RegenerativeAgriculture and circular systems. Learn more about the programme via the link in our bio 🔗 #ClimateCrisis #ClimateSolutions #SustainableFoodSystems #wcef2024
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Our food systems are not working for people and the planet. We must transition to an approach that respects the environment and ensures the wellbeing of people now and in the future. 🥕 At the World Circular Economic Forum our Programme Manager, Annelies Withofs, talked about the Circular Food Systems for Rwanda programme which supports farmers, entrepreneurs, and businesses to shift towards #RegenerativeAgriculture and circular systems. Learn more about the programme via the link in our bio 🔗 #ClimateCrisis #ClimateSolutions #SustainableFoodSystems #wcef2024
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