‘Dignity Without Delay’: USA for UNHCR’s New Campaign Shifts the Focus from Refugee Crises to Refugee Futures

USA for UNHCR, which supports the work of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, launches “Dignity Without Delay,” a new campaign challenging how the world sees refugees. The campaign shifts the focus from the horrors and immediate needs of displacement during crises to the skills, ambitions and futures refugees can still build if we collectively invest in long-term solutions. It is timed to coincide with the UN General Assembly (UNGA), an annual moment where world leaders, the private sector, nonprofits and philanthropists gather in New York City to address global challenges. The campaign aims to elevate the global refugee crisis among these key decision makers as deserving greater attention, collaboration and funding. 

Rather than relying on the familiar imagery of conflict and crisis, “Dignity Without Delay” focuses on the lives of refugees after displacement. The campaign introduces five refugees through the futures they are pursuing: Maya, a trailblazing aviation engineer in the United Kingdom; Cadet, a baker in Burundi; Pang, a community physiotherapist in Kenya; Suliman, a blacksmith in Syria; and Varvara, a dance scholar in Slovakia. 

The campaign challenges the typical perception of refugees as people defined by need and circumstances outside of their control. Instead, it puts their skills, ambitions and potential to contribute and thrive at the center of the story.

“Dignity Without Delay is about recognizing that being a refugee should be a chapter in someone’s life, not their whole story,” says Anastasia Fitz, Senior Director of Brand Strategy at USA for UNHCR. “Refugees have skills, ambitions and dreams for their future. This campaign asks us to see refugees differently: not defined by the crisis that displaced them, but by what they are capable of building next.”

The campaign brings to life UNHCR’s new “50 by 35” vision, an ambition to help millions of refugees move beyond prolonged reliance on humanitarian aid and toward greater self-reliance and lasting solutions by 2035.

For millions of refugees, displacement is not a temporary life interruption. Nearly seven in 10 refugees – 25 million people – have now been displaced for five years or more. For 14.5 million of them, humanitarian aid still covers the basics of daily life. USA for UNHCR’s ‘Dignity Without Delay’ campaign shows that dependence on humanitarian aid is not a reflection of the ambition or ability of millions of refugees.

“Humanitarian aid saves lives, but refugees, like all of us, deserve more than basic survival,” says Suzanne Ehlers, Executive Director and CEO of USA for UNHCR. “The long-term displacement of refugees rarely dominates headlines, and yet these people and their potential futures cannot be forgotten. Creating the conditions for refugees to rebuild their lives and pursue their ambitions requires governments, communities, businesses and philanthropists to work together. ‘Dignity Without Delay’ reminds us that no one should have to wait years for a chance to thrive.”

“Displacement is a circumstance, not an identity,” says Kendra Schaaf, Founder & CEO of creative agency partner, Schaaf. “Maya isn’t defined by displacement. She’s an aviation engineer. Pang is a physiotherapist. Varvara is a dancer. Our goal is to take UNHCR’s ambitious global vision and make it deeply human.”

The campaign launches this week, to coincide with UNGA’s high-level week, with a full-page color advertisement in the New York edition of The New York Times and will appear across New York City, close to UN Headquarters, through targeted digital out-of-home placements, including digital newsstands, bus shelters and LinkNYC displays, as well as a high-impact placement near Bryant Park.

“Dignity Without Delay” was developed in collaboration with Schaaf, an independent, women-owned creative agency that led creative development and produced the campaign in-house. M+R serves as media partner.

Source: USA for UNHCR

  Anastasia Fitz, Dignity Without Delay, Kendra Schaaf, Suzanne Ehlers, UN Refugee Agency, USA for UNHCR