As of May  2024, 120 million people worldwide have been forcibly removed from their homes due to persecution, conflict, violence, and human rights violations. Today, on World Refugee Day, The Article 26 Backpack stands in solidarity with refugees across the globe, helping others to safely organize, store, and share critical educational and professional documents. 

Dr. Keith Watenpaugh, founder of The Article 26 backpack, shares that “Getting displaced young people back into higher education is a global imperative. Education is for all is key to the “human rights idea” and they are the people who will rebuild society after wars, helping refugees integrate peacefully and successfully into those places where they have found refuge.” 

With support from AACRAO, Ford Foundation, Mastercard Foundation, and Blossom Hill Foundation, Backpack has registered 5,000 young people across the globe and is now available in 8 languages (Darsi/Farsi, English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Ukrainian, Russian, and Eastern Armenian).Working to respond to emergencies affecting higher education, Backpack asserts its commitment to using Backpack’s language capacity and infrastructure to support Sudanese and Palestinians in the coming years as they rebuild their colleges and universities. 

As an estimated 2.4 million refugees will be in need of resettlement in 2024, Backpack will continue to function as a human rights tool expanding its reach through the addition of Amharic, Swahili, and Burmese as well as continuing to inform Backpackers across the globe with essential scholarship opportunities and news though quarterly newsletter “Backpacker, Go!”.  

Dheera Dusanapudi '25, the student director of Backpack, notes that student involvement in Backpack has played a critical role in supplementing human rights education at UC Davis with real-world, hands-on experience: "On World Refugee Day, it's important to think about how we can support communities that have been displaced, and undergraduate involvement in Backpack demonstrates that students have so much to share even as they learn."