The UN refugee agency announced on Tuesday the winner of the coveted Nansen Award. The recipient is a former Somali refugee who is determined to provide books and education to his fellow citizens who are imprisoned in large camps in Kenya.
36-year-old Abdullahi Mire received praise for empowering children in Kenya’s overcrowded Dadaab refugee camps with 100,000 books as a symbol of his support for their right to education. UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi hailed Mire as “living proof that transformative ideas can spring from within displaced communities” in a statement announcing the prize.
Mire was born in Somalia, but, when he was a little child his family left the country due to unrest and moved to Kenya. He lived for 23 years in Dadaab, a large network of three camps that were first constructed in the 1990s to house about 90,000 refugees. Presently, 370,000 people call Dadaab home, according to UN estimates.
In spite of what the UNHCR called “monumental odds,” Mire finished his primary and secondary schooling while residing in the camp, and he also succeeded in earning a degree in public relations and journalism.
Inner calling
Mire made the decision to open the Refugee Youth Education Hub in order to solicit book donations and increase public awareness of the educational needs of refugees. The organisation led by refugees has established three libraries and brought 100,000 books into the camps thus far.
“When you read a book, it is like you are travelling the world,” Mire stated. He said “books are the best way to heal” for those who have been traumatised by the conflict and wars they have fled. The initiative has already increased the number of refugees enrolling in postsecondary education.
