Canfield grad, now with UN, details Syrian refugee crisis

CANFIELD

Many of the estimated 1.2 million Syrian refugees who fled to neighboring Lebanon to escape a bloody civil war may not find life in abandoned buildings, crowded shelters and tents to their liking, but it’s far better than what they left, a United Nations humanitarian worker contends.

“Lebanon has seen decades of instability and has its problems,” but also has many teachers who are helping to educate the refugees, Karen Koning AbuZayd told nearly 200 people who attended her lecture Saturday on the topic at The Ursuline Center, 4280 Shields Road.

Sponsoring her presentation, “From Sarajevo to Syria: The Horror & Hope for Refugees,” was the Ursuline Center’s Sisters of Youngstown.

Koning AbuZayd, a Canfield High School graduate who lives in Chicago, is a member of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria. The impartial body investigates alleged human-rights violations and prepares reports based on its findings for the United Nations Human Rights Council.

From June 2005 to early 2010, she served as under secretary general and commissioner-general with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. Her efforts included overseeing health, social services, financial and education programs for the roughly 4.7 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Read more of her remarks in Sunday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.