Silver Spring, Maryland--Today, June 20, the Adventist Development and
Relief Agency (ADRA) joins the international community in observing World
Refugee Day, a day that honors the courage, persistence, and strength of
refugees and internally displaced persons
(IDPs) around the world.

Committed to assisting those in need worldwide, ADRA's humanitarian
initiatives reach hundreds of thousands of refugees and IDPs, both by
improving their living conditions in camps and then by helping them
reintegrate into their communities and reestablish their lives once they
have returned home.

A refugee, as defined by the 1951 Refugee Convention set up by the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is someone who, based on a
well-founded fear of persecution due to his or her race, religion,
nationality, particular social affiliation, or political stance, is outside
of his or her country of origin and is unable or unwilling to request
protection from his or her home country.

Internally displaced persons have also fled their homes, due to persecution,
war, natural disaster, famine, or other emergency, but still remain within
the national boundaries of their home country.

According to the UNHCR, in 2006 there were more than 14 million refugees,
including those Palestinian refugees registered and assisted by the United
Nations Refugee and Works Agency (UNRWA). The Geneva-based Internal
Displacement Monitoring Centre reports that, in addition, there were more
than 24 million displaced persons worldwide in 2006 due to conflict.

ADRA is currently working with refugee and IDP communities in Sudan,
Somalia, Liberia, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Colombia, and elsewhere.

In the Darfur region of western Sudan, ADRA has distributed 35 tons of
emergency supplies, including blankets, jerry cans, and tarpaulins for more
for 16,000 people. A project is underway to construct 450 latrines and 70
wells in southern and western Darfur to meet the water and sanitation needs
in the affected regions.

Helping to stem the spread of disease, ADRA has already built 3,500 toilets
in camps and villages in western Darfur. An estimated 45,000 people in three
IDP camps have benefited from this initiative, which has improved the
substandard living conditions. ADRA plans to continue working with camps in
the region, installing more latrines and providing health and hygiene
classes.

In Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, ADRA is providing microcredit and
literacy programs to IDPs and has installed 300 hand pumps in camps and
settlements. ADRA has provided relief assistance for camps in south of
Khartoum, in addition to building a farming school and implementing various
water projects in the region.

A reintegration assistance project has set up way stations in southeastern
Sudan to provide returnees passing through Nassir and Pagak with tools,
food, and health services. In a related project, ADRA is providing food,
blankets, mosquito netting, and essential services to thousands of returnees
traveling south from Khartoum in barges along the White Nile River corridor.

In Somalia, ADRA is providing adult education classes for returning refugees
in the Bakol region, in addition to various development projects in other
rural areas, including water and sanitation, food security, and community
infrastructure rehabilitation, These activities will strengthen the local
community and help returnees achieve financial independence amid the ongoing
political turmoil in rural Somalia.

As a result of civil war in Liberia, many IDPs currently live in camps
around Monrovia. Actively working in the counties of Lofa and Nimba to
control the spread of disease and improve general health in local
communities, ADRA is also helping returnees reintegrate back into their
native communities through a resettlement and rehabilitation project.

In Burundi, a country that has been plagued for years with violent conflict,
ADRA has been actively supporting IDPs and returning refugees. To date, ADRA
has built 5,000 homes for 30,000 Burundi returnees, and is providing them
with basic agricultural tools to assist their efforts to regain their
livelihoods and independence.
Other activities include building health clinics, setting up water access
points, and rebuilding schools.

In Sierra Leone, ADRA is involved in a three-year, integrated resettlement
project in the district of Port Loko, 30 miles northeast of the capital,
Freetown. The project focuses will reconstruct housing, build latrines, and
reestablish water supplies in the war-ravaged region, as well as provide
seeds, agricultural tools, and adult education classes to returnees.

Colombia's long-standing civil conflict figures as the primary reason behind
the displacement of 3.5 million people there, nearly half of them adult
women. ADRA is working with 240 displaced women and female heads of
households in Bogotá and Cartagena, providing vocational training in
tailoring and cosmetology. The training will provide them with
income-generating job skills with which they can support their families.

For more information on ADRA's work with refugees and IDPs, visit the World
Refugee Day resources page at www.adra.org.

To support efforts to assist refugees and IDPs worldwide through ADRA's
Emergency Management Fund, call 1.800.424.2372 (ADRA) or donate online at
www.adra.org.

ADRA is present in 125 countries, providing community development and
emergency management without regard to political or religious association,
age, gender, or ethnicity.

Additional information about ADRA can be found at www.adra.org.