PRESS RELEASE: Eat like a refugee – Australians inspire global action to support refugees
Eat like a refugee: Australians inspire global action to support refugees
Interview available with CEO of Australian aid agency in Jordan
This week marks the launch of the Act for Peace Ration Challenge in 2019, an initiative started in Australia that has grown into a global movement for action on refugees. Tens of thousands of people across Australia, the UK, the USA and New Zealand will live on refugee rations during Refugee Week to raise money and awareness for communities threatened by conflict and disaster.
The Ration Challenge gives members of the public the chance to take action on refugee issues by eating only refugee rations for a week, sharing their experience, and getting sponsored to do it. The rations they eat are exactly the same as those distributed to Syrian refugees in camps in Jordan – just a small amount of rice, beans, chickpeas, lentils, fish, oil and flour.
Janet Cousens, Act for Peace’s CEO, will be in Jordan this week, where Syrian families are receiving the food, medicine and support they need to rebuild their lives thanks to funds raised by generous Australians through the Ration Challenge.
An estimated 25,000 people across four countries will sign up to take on the Ration Challenge in 2019 – including 10,000 Australians. By taking the challenge they’re helping to provide refugees with the food, medicine and support they need to rebuild their lives. They’re showing refugees that they’re not alone. And they’re showing, despite what our politicians might say, that ordinary people do care, and we’re prepared to do what it takes to help our fellow humans in their time of need.
The Ration Challenge coincides with Refugee Week (June 16 – June 22, 2019), a worldwide event that takes place every year around the UN’s World Refugee Day on 20 June, aimed at generating awareness about the range of issues affecting refugees.
In a climate where many politicians are trading on fear and division, the world needs more initiatives that promote empathy and unity across boundaries and help to bring people closer together.
“In the context of global politics there is a lot of fear, but at the end of the day refugees are people – they are men, women and children just like us. By walking in the shoes of someone else, even for a week, you really begin to empathise with what they’re experiencing and reflect on their situation,” reflects Karen McGrath, Co-founder of the Ration Challenge.
“The Ration Challenge is an important conversation starter – by talking to their family and friends about living on rations, people can help open hearts and minds to what refugees are going through. A global community of people taking action through the challenge will really help to shift attitudes around refugees on a mass scale,” says Karen McGrath, Cofounder of the challenge.
Australia has been repeatedly called out by the United Nations for its inhumane treatment of refugees, especially its offshore detention policy, and international news outlets including the New York Times have reported on Australia’s cruel treatment of those seeking asylum.
That everyday Australians are leading the charge on a worldwide action to support refugees is encouraging; it shows that despite successive governments’ policies, Australians are generous, compassionate and want to do what’s right to support their fellow human beings.
“In the past few years, Australia has become known internationally for its cruel offshore detention policy – a policy that doesn’t reflect the way many Australians believe refugees should be treated. Through the Ration Challenge, we are sending a different message to the world. We are showing that Australians are compassionate and are willing to do what it takes to help those in need,” said Karen.
The idea for the Ration Challenge was born in December 2013, when two Act for Peace staff members, Karen McGrath and Ben Littlejohn, visited a Burmese refugee camp in Thailand and witnessed first-hand the meagre food available for the refugees.
“We couldn’t even comprehend what it must be like to have to survive on such a small amount of food, and it got us thinking. We decided to experience it ourselves, and see if we could raise money for more rations at the same time.
“The funds raised through the challenge support Syrian refugees in Jordan and other conflict and disaster affected families around the world, by providing urgently needed food, medicine and counselling.
“The Ration Challenge is more than just a fundraising exercise. It is a meaningful way for people to band together to show refugees that we are with them, not against them,” said Karen.
The Ration Challenge was piloted in 2014 when just 100 brave Australians took the challenge for the first time, raising $60,000.
Since then, the challenge has inspired more and more people to take part – to date more than 40,000 people have signed up, raising close to $10 million for lifesaving programs around the world. Now, this innovative fundraising initiative has captured the imagination of refugee supporters worldwide.
Through a partnership with charities overseas, this June tens of thousands of people in the UK, USA and New Zealand will take the challenge alongside us Aussies.
“The growth of the challenge over the last five years has been astounding – I’m absolutely blown away by what every day Australians have managed to achieve for refugees through the Ration Challenge.
“Who would have thought that something we started as a small group of close family and friends living on rations for a week would result in $10 million dollars raised and tens of thousands of important, and sometimes difficult, conversations happening around the world,” said Karen.
AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEW: Janet Cousens, Chief Executive Officer of Act for Peace in JORDAN
Janet has extensive experience in refugee issues and refugee resettlement. She can answer questions regarding protection and resilience issues for vulnerable communities affected by conflict and disaster, as well as offer insight into the immediate and ongoing response efforts needed in largescale humanitarian crises, including current Syrian refugee crisis.
AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEW: Karen McGrath, Ration Challenge Co-founder
Karen’s firsthand experience visiting a refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border in 2013 led her to cofound the Ration Challenge. Over the past few years, Karen has travelled to refugee camps outside of Amman, Jordan to meet with Syrian families forced to flee the conflict. Karen has also played a key role in developing the Ration Challenge school program.
ABOUT ACT FOR PEACE
Act for Peace is the international aid agency of the National Council of Churches in Australia, and empowers passionate people to work together to achieve safety, justice and dignity in communities threatened by conflict and disaster. Act for Peace works with local organisations in over 20 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the Pacific, providing food, shelter, education, healthcare and training to help some of the world’s most vulnerable communities take leadership in preparing for, responding to and recover from conflict and disaster.
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Contact: For more information
Jess Xavier 0401 440 061
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