Rehabilitation: co-creating new lives

Friday 26 June 2015 Music Sufi Soul Qawwali

With Thomas Albrecht, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Regional Representative

Podcast available HERE (mp3 format 18MB).

 This event will look at the global challenges of refugee protection from an international standpoint, and also reflect: how do we meet the challenge to support survivors of war-related torture in Australia?

Mr Albrecht will share a review on the situation of refugees; human beings known to all of us for their courage, resilience and hope against all odds, and discuss the challenges of ensuring their protection.

The current global displacement situation will be covered along with the changing humanitarian landscape confronting UNHCR and the international community, and the operational challenges and dilemmas facing humanitarian workers today.  Particular emphasis will be placed on providing support to survivors of violence and torture using the example of STTARS to illustrate what humanity in action means.

Mr Albrecht is the Regional Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Canberra and works with governments and other partners to ensure all persons of concern to UNHCR, including refugees, asylum-seekers and stateless persons receive protection, assistance and durable solutions to their plight.

STTARS, is a specialist trauma-focused mental health service, which has been providing psycho-social treatment and support to help refugees heal from the scars of torture, for more than twenty four years.

The evening to commence at 6pm with music from Sufi Soul Qawwali.

Presented by The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre and STTARS (Survivors of Torture and Trauma Assistance and Rehabilitation Service)

Photo credit: Barat Ali Batoor

 
Biography

Mr. Thomas Albrecht is the Regional Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Canberra, with geographical responsibility for 16 Pacific countries. Mr. Albrecht’s role is to work with governments and other partners to ensure all persons of concern to UNHCR, including refugees, asylum-seekers and stateless persons, receive protection, assistance and durable solutions to their plight. He is also keen to promote long-term cooperation on the protection of persons of concern in the region, and to increase understanding and support for refugees worldwide.

Prior to taking up this assignment in early 2014, Mr. Albrecht served as Head of the UNHCR Regional Support Hub in Nairobi, which, in close collaboration with the Organization’s Headquarters, works with offices in the East and Horn of Africa as well as the Great Lakes Region to ensure strategic coherence, programme quality and results, management effectiveness and financial due diligence and accountability for UNHCR's operations.  

From 2005 to 2009, Mr. Albrecht served as Deputy Regional Representative at the UNHCR Regional Representation for the United States of America and the Caribbean, located in Washington. Before coming to Washington in October 2005, Mr. Albrecht was the UNHCR Representative in Ghana. 

Mr. Albrecht joined UNHCR in 1987 and worked in refugee situations in the East and Horn of Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa, the Americas as well as Eastern and Central Europe. These operations related to refugee protection, emergencies, capacity building efforts as well as the advancement of durable solutions for refugees, with particular emphasis on people orientation, empowerment, gender equality, the sustainability of initiatives and results-based management.  Mr. Albrecht was also posted at UNHCR’s Headquarters in Geneva, where he worked in the Department of International Protection.  

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