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Source UNRAWA Give For Food Project

If you’re eager to hear Mohammed Assaf’s new song, so are we! United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine ambassador has dedicated this special song to UNRWA, helping kick off an important campaign that needs your support. Because of crises like the blockade of Gaza and the devastation of Syria, or due toyears of chronic poverty, today over 1 million Palestine refugees need help to meet their basic food requirements. This summer, join UNRWA: Give for Food. From June 2 to  July 28, we hope to raise US$ 100,000 to provide food for those in need. With your support, UNRWA can red card hunger this World Cup season.

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Join our campaign and spread the word!   Click here to download the #redcardhunger selfie templates & visit us on Facebook (link is external), Twitter (link is external) & Instagram (link is external).Assaf’s World Cup single Assaf360 (link is external) is out! Proceeds go to UNRWA to help us #redcardhunger. Download from iTunes (link is external) or Anghami+ (link is external) now.Check out some prizes for our supporters and find out how to win.

Mohammed Assaf -UNRWA  is unique among UN agencies, both for its long-standing commitment to one group of refugees – the Palestine refugees – and for its direct provision of services including education, health care and relief to those refugees. But being unique doesn’t mean that UNRWA can act alone: We have always depended on our partners, including our hosts and donors, to help us best serve Palestine refugees. Now, we are proud also to work with individuals who can add their voice to ours, spreading the word about Palestine refugees and reminding people who may be far away that they are not just a regional concern or a relic of the past.

Mohammad Assaf is UNRWA’s first ever Regional Youth Ambassador As a “child of UNRWA,” Mohammed Assaf is the ideal individual to be the first goodwill ambassador in the more than six decades of our history. A Palestine refugee himself, he grew up in the Khan Younis camp in Gaza. Not long ago, he was one of the over 220,000 students attending the Agency’s 245 schools in Gaza. For him, the connection continued at home: His mother, too, was an UNRWA teacher. Throughout his childhood – at school, at the doctor’s, at community centres – he saw firsthand the work that UNRWA does for Palestine refugees.Since his appointment in June 2013, by Commissioner-General Filippo Grandi, as the Agency’s Regional Youth Ambassador for Palestine Refugees, the 23-year-old Arab Idol winner has used his voice and his talent to help UNRWA give other young people the same support it gave him. With the universal language of his music, he carries the message of UNRWA and young Palestine refugees to new audiences, including in the region – to Dubai and Kuwait – and even further. In November 2013, he took that message to the United States, bringing the voice of Palestine refugee youth to the United Nations in New York City.

MohammEd Assaf in the News

UNRWA Arab Idol Serenades World Cup Audiences with Unprecedented ‘Fan-written’ Song

Assaf visits the Danish Royal LibraryMohammed Assaf – Arab Idol winner, Palestine refugee and UNRWA Regional Youth Ambassador for the has created World Cup history by creating the competition’s first ever ‘fan-written’ song. It was recorded in Dubai on 3 June. Assaf will perform the song ‘Assaf360’, live for the first time on 10 June in São Paulo, Brazil, at the opening ceremony of the sixty-fourth FIFA Congress. ‘Assaf360’ will also be the anthem for the UNRWA Give for Food campaign. All proceeds from the download of the song, via iTunes (link is external) or Anghami+ (link is external), will support the UNRWA campaign, helping “red card” hunger for food-insecure Palestine refugees.Read MoreJoin our campiagn, help #redcardhunger4 June 2014

Launch of Siblin Training Centre Football Pitch

Assaf visits the Danish Royal LibraryUnder the patronage of the Head of the Delegation of the European Union to #Lebanon Ambassador, Angelina Eichhorst, and the Director of UNRWA Affairs in Lebanon, Ann Dismorr, UNRWA organized the launch ceremony of the football pitch of Siblin Training Centre (South Campus), upgraded by UNRWA through the EU-funded project, ‘Improving the living conditions of Palestine refugees in Lebanon’. Ambassador of the State of Palestine, H.E. Mr. Ashraf Dabbour, and UNRWA Goodwill Ambassador Mohammed Assaf were present at the event.16 April 2014

Assaf Dubai International Humanitarian Aid and Development Conference and Exhibition

Assaf visits the Danish Royal LibraryUNRWA and its Goodwill Ambassador Mohammad Assaf participated last week in the 2014 Dubai International Humanitarian Aid and Development Conference and Exhibition, which highlighted women in times of conflict and war. The conference was opened by HRH Princess Haya Bint al Hussein, wife of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. She visited an exhibit of photos from the historic UNRWA archives that celebrated the long journey of Palestine refugee women, and expressed her appreciation for the Agency’s work in supporting Palestine refugees in the region. Her Highness also visited an UNRWA exhibit highlighting the plight of Palestine refugees in #Syria, particularly in Yarmouk camp, Damascus, where humanitarian conditions have grown desperate following months of siege and limited access for relief efforts.9 April 2014

Singer and UNRWA Goodwill Ambassador Mohammed Assaf visits the Danish Royal Library

Assaf visits the Danish Royal LibraryArab Idol winning singer Mohammed Assaf visited this week the Danish Royal Library where the UNRWA Archive is being digitized by a team of professional experts thanks to a generous contribution from the Danish Government. The Danish Royal Library started the work in May last year and have completed the digitalization of over 150,000 photos up to date they plan to organize a special exhibition in 2015 upon competition of the works.Read More27 February 2014

Mohammed Assaf’s visit to the Gaza Strip

Assaf visit to GazaUNRWA Goodwill Ambassador Mohammed Assaf visited a number UNRWA operations in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, including an elementary school, where he took a seat at a desk with the other students. He spent some time at the UNRWA training centre in Khan Younis, where he spoke to students and encouraged them to study and work hard.Read More12 February 2014

New York Times: An ‘Arab Idol’ Wows His Fans in America

Assaf performing in ChicagoArab Idol, Mohammed Assaf, is trying to conquer North America, or at least its people of Arab descent. He has been on a nine-week tour of cities that have large Arab immigrant populations, ending in Charlotte, N.C., on Dec. 28 and including performances in Ottawa on Thursday and Friday. From Detroit to Tampa, every show has been packed, with entire extended families paying up to $350 a ticket.Read More (link is external)18 December 2013

United Nations Department of Public Information : From Camp to Camp: A Refugee StoryVisiting United Nations Headquarters in New York, Mohammed Assaf met with eight Palestinian journalists attending a training programme held by the Department of Public Information. Four of the journalists had chosen Palestine refugees as the central theme of their final project. In this interview, they ask Mr. Assaf about his life as a Palestine refugee in the Gaza Strip – from daily obstacles to major, life-threatening dangers and the persistence that encouraged him to follow his dreams, bringing hope to millions of young people across the region.Watch the video (link is external)5 December 2013

Al Arabiya: Mohammed Assaf celebrates ‘Palestine Day’ at U.N. headquarters

Mohammad Assaf with Secretary GeneralPalestinian vocalist Mohammed Assaf, this year’s winner of “Arab Idol,” celebrated Monday the International Day of ‎Solidarity with the Palestinian People together with high profile U.N. officials in New York… “In Gaza, children like me grow in an environment laden with challenges and in an unbelievable way. Many of our parents suffer to find job opportunities or strive hard to put some food on the table,” Assaf said in his U.N. address.Read More (link is external)26 November 2013

UN News Service: Youth envoy for UN Palestine refugee agency says goals can be achieved with hope, determination

Mohammad Assaf at press conference in UN HeadquartersFrom a “tougher than tough” life in a Gaza refugee camp to winning the title of this year’s “Arab Idol”, Mohammed Assaf told reporters at United Nations Headquarters today that he will “never forget his roots” and, as a beacon of hope for all Palestinian people, he will continue to promote peace, security and other universal values.Read More (link is external)26 November 2013Watch (link is external) the video of Assaf’s press briefing in New York

From Mohammed Assaf, A Song for Solidarity

Mohammad Assaf named UNRWA regional youth ambassadorThe United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is proud to welcome its Regional Youth Ambassador, Mohammed Assaf, to United Nations Headquarters in New York. As the first goodwill ambassador in UNRWA history, he will join the Agency, the United Nations and Member States as they mark the thirty-fifth International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, on 25 November… Currently on tour in the United States, Mr. Assaf will perform for hundreds of delegates and civil society at the UN, bringing the sounds and rhythms of Palestine to New York with a song for solidarity.Read More25 November 2013

Mohammed Assaf recieves donation on behalf of UNRWA

Mohammad Assaf recieves donation on behalf of unrwaDr. Majd Naji, the Director of Liberty Dental Clinic hands UNRWA Regional Youth Ambassador Mohammed Assaf 100,000 UAE Dirhams in support of Palestine refugees. The ceremony was attended by Margot Ellis, Deputy Commissioner-General of UNRWA, and Mr. Peter Ford, Representative of the Commissioner-General in the Arab world.Read More5 November 2013

Mohammed Assaf Visits UNRWA Students in Am’ari

Mohammad Assaf visits UNRWA school in Am’ari campA visit by Arab Idol and Regional Youth Ambassador Mohammed Assaf to a girls’ school in the Palestine refugee camp of Am’ari, near Ramallah, helped the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) emphasize the message of its Back to School campaign. Launched in August, the campaign highlighted important messages about education for Palestine refugee students, including those threatened by displacement and movement restrictions in the West Bank or suffering under the blockade in the Gaza Strip.See Our Photo Gallery10 September 2013

UNRWA LAUNCHES FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN FOR SYRIA AND GAZA

Mohammad AssafThe United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is proud to announce the launch of a fundraising and awareness campaign for Palestine refugees in Syria and the Gaza Strip during the holy month of Ramadan. Working with Arab Idol Mohammed Assaf, the Agency’s Regional Youth Ambassador, UNRWA hopes to highlight the struggles and needs of these vulnerable Palestine refugees.Read More22 July 2013Watch the video and join Muhammed Assaf in supporting UNRWA

UNRWA COMMISSIONER-GENERAL WELCOMES SINGER, MUHAMMED ASSAF, TO UNRWA HEADQUARTERS IN GAZA

Commissioner General welcomes Mohammad AssafThe Commissioner General of UNRWA, Filippo Grandi, welcomed Arab Idol winner, Mohammed Assaf, to UNRWA headquarters in Gaza, and thanked him for accepting the role of UNRWA’s first ever “Regional Youth Ambassador for Palestine Refugees”. Speaking in front of hundreds of UNRWA staff, Grandi said Mohammed “had brought us all together in a rare moment of celebration”.Read More26 June 2013Watch the video of Arab Idol winner Muhammad Assaf meeting UNRWA Commissioner-General Filippo Grandi

“ARAB IDOL” WINNER MOHAMMeD ASSAF NAMED UNRWA REGIONAL YOUTH AMBASSADOR FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES

Mohammad Assaf named UNRWA regional youth ambassadorFilippo Grandi, Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), has named 23-year-old Mohammed Assaf as the first UNRWA Regional Youth Ambassador for Palestine Refugees. This follows Mohammed winning the Arab Idol crown and reflects his personal commitment to Palestinian refugees and to UNRWA. “On behalf of everybody at UNRWA, I send warmest congratulations to Mohammed and his family”, said Grandi. “All Palestinians share in his success. Mohammed’s music is a universal language and speaks to all of us. How fantastic that a Palestine refugee from Gaza should bring us all together in this way.”Read More22 June 2013Watch (link is external) the video of Assaf accepting his appointment as the first ever UNRWA Regional Youth Ambassador (in Arabic)But other areas are suffering, too. The Gaza Strip, home to 1.3 million Palestine refugees, is nearing a crisis. Its economy has been ruined by the long-standing closure and isolation, increasing ten-fold the number of Palestine refugees who need help to meet their basic needs. Restrictions on agriculture, fishing and trade have also had an impact on food availability.In Jordan, the West Bank and especially Lebanon, the situation is different. For some Palestine refugees there, the inability to afford enough of the food they require is a problem that generations have struggled with. Their food insecurity is brought about by an invisible, long-running crisis: years of chronic abject poverty and barriers to the very tools – education, employment, health care – that could help them break free.Abject poverty isn’t a problem for one day or one person. It affects every aspect of life for 700,000 Palestine refugees. Mothers suffering from food insecurity disadvantage their babies; children who go hungry to school struggle more than their peers; young men and women who must constantly worry about being able to afford food today can’t focus on tomorrow. For these Palestine refugees, the impact of abject poverty on their food security, their education, their health care and their employment makes it even harder for them to break the cycle.When we began operations in 1950, a lot of our work involved immediate relief and support for Palestine refugees facing a terrible crisis. Things have changed since then, but whenever Palestine refugees have faced an emergency, UNRWA has been there to help with cash assistance, food assistance and other items. We also support nearly 300,000 refugees across the region with quarterly distributions through our social-safety net. With this support and with other efforts – such as school feeding, a priority for the poor in shelter rehabilitation or technical and vocationaleducation for young men and women – UNRWA tries to help the poorest Palestine refugees both for today and for the future.This summer, we ask you to help us help those who need it most. Whether caused by a headline-grabbing crisis or years of abject poverty, food insecurity is atrap. With your support, we can help Palestine refugees find their way out. It’s time to red card hunger.The European Union has played a vital role in helping UNRWA deliver human-development services, including those that help relieve, alleviate and tackle food insecurity, through its contributions to the Agency’s General Fund.