How your creativity can help refugee children

We're asking you to submit a drawing of one thing that makes you smile.

The most inspiring drawings will be transformed into graphics and sold on design website Canva with proceeds going to UNHCR education programs.

A staggering 48 per cent of school-age refugees are currently not in school, which means around four million children aren’t getting the critical skills and opportunities they need for a stable and empowered future.

For nine-year-old Maryam – one of the 52,000 Afghan refugee children who have returned to the classroom as part of UNHCR’s education program across Pakistan – going to school is a chance for her to learn more about the world around her.

“Girls, if they go to school, they will pass on the lessons to their parents, their families and to other children. I feel happy when I’m learning,” she says.

“Once I am finished school, I will be able to help my parents and my community.”

Before she received a schoolbag, notebooks and pens through UNHCR’s education program, Maryam found it difficult to do her school work. But now, she enjoys going to school and dreams of being a teacher or a doctor when she is older.

“I want to do something that helps people,” Maryam says.

Australia for UNHCR has partnered with graphic design website Canva to help refugee children access the education they deserve – access to primary school, safe learning environments, school-readiness programs, quality teachers and tools so that they too can have the opportunity to build better futures for themselves, their families and their communities.

We need more people like you to stand with refugees. To find out more or to submit your drawings please visit the campaign page.

SUBMIT YOUR DRAWING