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Australia
Our top five moments of 2025
We hope you enjoy these stories of creativity, resilience and achievement, celebrating the people and moments that inspired us this year.
Australia
We hope you enjoy these stories of creativity, resilience and achievement, celebrating the people and moments that inspired us this year.
This year marks 25 years since Australia for UNHCR was founded to advocate and raise money for the UN Refugee Agency.
This milestone reflects the powerful impact Australians have made in places like Afghanistan and Ukraine. Your generosity has helped deliver emergency shelter, clean water, medical care and mental health support, ensuring UNHCR can stay and deliver, long after the headlines fade.
“I want to thank every donor who gives to Australia for UNHCR for supporting one of the most important humanitarian causes of our lifetime,” says Naomi Steer, founding National Director. “They can be confident that their support has changed not just one, but many, many lives.”
For World Refugee Day, acclaimed artist and former refugee Atong Atem collaborated with Australia for UNHCR on an arresting installation in Sydney’s Martin Place.
The artwork - an oversized print of her portrait Three Women - celebrated beauty, culture and belonging, inviting the public to reflect on identity and what it truly means to welcome others.
“The women in the photograph are all South Sudanese, and they all have a refugee background or experience,” says Ms Atem. “It felt really important for me to take portraits of people who resonate with my experience...not pitying them or focusing on [their] trauma, but acknowledging their presence.”
Having arrived in Australia through UNHCR-supported resettlement, Ms Atem saw the project as a chance to give back and offer a fresh perspective on refugee experiences through the power of art.
Slam poet Huda Fadlelmawla, known as Huda the Goddess, received the 2025 Australia for UNHCR – SBS Les Murray Award for Refugee Recognition for her outstanding work as a performer and advocate.
Huda arrived in Australia at age 10 after her family fled conflict in Sudan and spent several years in Egypt. She draws on these experiences to create improvised spoken word poetry that celebrates heritage, community and resilience.
“A lot of the things I’ve done are things I’ve had to do,” Huda says. “Activists are not birthed out of choice, they are birthed out of urgency, care and obligation.”
“I am here for every black girl who does not get to dream out loud. I stay in the room so that, when they step through the door, there is another black face waiting for them.”
In a powerful statement of resilience, UNHCR High Profile Supporter and former refugee Asif Sultani completed the 42km Sydney Marathon.
Running on behalf of Australia for UNHCR, Asif achieved a personal milestone while raising nearly $11,000 to provide life-saving aid for refugees in need.
“I’m honoured to run for refugees and represent UNHCR,” says Asif. “It is a privilege to stand for those whose lives have been on hold and whose futures remain uncertain.”
Through his run, Asif showed Australians what refugees can achieve when given the opportunity.
“As refugees, we may have lost everything we once knew but we have not lost our ability to achieve greatness,” he says.
Afghanistan’s top female footballers have returned to the international stage at the FIFA Unites: Women’s Series in Morocco. Forced to flee their country in 2021, the team includes 13 players based in Australia, five in the United Kingdom, and two in Italy and Portugal.
The squad secured an impressive 7-0 victory over Libya, finishing third overall. For goalkeeper and Australia for UNHCR supporter Fatima Yousufi, the series was a powerful reminder that even after displacement, Afghan women can keep chasing their dreams.
“Even after four years, we’re still here. We’re still playing. We’re still dreaming,” says Fatima. “I can see my teammates giving their all to make everyone proud, especially the girls in Afghanistan.”
Read more about their inspiring return to international football.
