[Cambridge, MA, June 13, 2018—] On May 10th, Charles and Rita Bronfman hosted an event at their home in New York to announce a campaign to raise $1,000,000 for RefugePoint in partnership with Focusing Philanthropy to help evacuate unaccompanied refugee children and others at great risk from Libya and the region and resettle them to European Union countries, which have opened up 50,000 resettlement slots for refugees in North Africa and the Middle East. This effort enables refugees in life-threatening circumstances to find lasting solutions.

At the event The Isabel Allende Foundation announced that it is awarding its 2018 Espíritu Award and an accompanying $100,000 to RefugePoint to support this emergency project and in recognition of RefugePoint’s unique work to find lasting solutions for the world’s most at risk refugees.

A recent CNN exposé uncovered slave markets in Libya, a failed state, where RefugePoint staff report that up to twenty five percent of refugees who are trafficked and in peril are unaccompanied girls and boys.

RefugePoint, in collaboration with the UN and its security teams and European Union countries, is engaged in an emergency operation to evacuate refugees from detention centers and resettle them to European Union countries.

Focusing Philanthropy, a charitable organization that supports effective non-profits on the front lines of the world’s greatest challenges, will match 1:1 all donations to reach the $1,000,000 goal, and is pleased to match the Isabel Allende Foundation’s Espiritu Award.

All donations go through Focusing Philanthropy are sent in full to RefugePoint. If any of the costs of this initiative are subsequently covered by the UNHCR, RefugePoint will use the replenished funds flexibly to help ensure the 50,000 target is reached and to maximize the organization’s resettlement efforts.

[RefugePoint finds lasting solutions for the world’s most at-risk refugees and supports the humanitarian community to do the same. RefugePoint envisions an inclusive world where refugees are supported to rebuild their lives, reach their full potential and contribute to their communities.]

To learn more about this topic or RefugePoint’s work generally please contact:

info at refugepoint dot org