Refugees United

Today is the second time I will be participating in Bloggers Unite. Bloggers Unite is an online movement that unites the voices of diverse bloggers from all corners of the blogosphere. This is not an intrusive movement, the one reminder that I received about the action was today via e-mail notification from Blog Catalog. Bloggers Unite: Blogging for Hope is a simple way for me to give back; all it takes is my voice being raised with thousands of others for those who don't have a voice. They have a once monthly action day that you can choose to participate in or not. There is no solicitation for money, only your voice and words.

This month's cause is the plight of refugees. The ultimate goal of this cause is to help families reconnect through the use of secure, anonymous, and free online databases that can be accessed at many refugee camps. This is basically a high tech version of putting up missing persons posters after a horrendous event; though in this case entire extended families may be torn apart.

While the uniting of families is the immediate goal, the raising of awareness of the plight of refugees around the world is the longterm objective. Recognition of any issue is the first step towards correcting it. The United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) estimates there are currently 32.9 million refugees around the world. This number is staggeringly huge but it cannot be allowed to paralyze one to inaction. Bloggers Unite estimates that 10,000 voices will be raised today to combat this blight. The UNHCR works with 649 NGO's from all over the world to meet the immediate safety and health needs of the millions of displaced refugees. The mission statement of the UNHCR states in part that "UNHCR is an impartial organization, offering protection and assistance to refugees and other on the basis of their needs and irrespective of their race, religion, political opinion, or gender."

If you would like to participate in this action, please click the Refugees United banner above. If you want to check out Bloggers Unite, click their logo below.