PEOPLE CAN SHOW their support for refugees fleeing conflict and violence by something as small as cooking a meal or reading a book, according to a new campaign.

The United Nations has today launched its ‘Do 1 thing’ scheme, which urges individuals to show interest in the struggles faced by refugees and asylum seekers in need of international protection. People can become involved by learning something about another culture, cooking a recipe from a country where people are fleeing, or watching a film about  refugee issues.

Anybody taking part is being asked to share their act on Facebook, Twitter, or by email to spread the word about the campaign by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, an international agency which works to help refugees across the world.

Sophie Magennis, head of UNHCR Ireland, said the world is facing a number of new refugee crises. “From the beginning of 2011 the world has borne witness to many new and tragic displacement and refugee crises such as those seen in Libya and Côte d’Ivoire and the ongoing displacement of hundreds of thousands of people from famine stricken Somalia,” she said.

In difficult economic times, one thing everyone can do which doesn’t cost a single cent is to show interest in others. By doing one simple thing, such as learning a fact about refugees, cooking a dish from a country where many refugees come from, watching a movie or reading a book about refugees people can help humanise an issue that is too often reduced to numbers.

The campaign runs for two weeks from today. For more information, see unhcr.ie/do1thing.