A global initiative, enabling people to show their solidarity with those who are forcibly displaced and people living in extreme poverty, worked its way across the world on Saturday, October 11th. The Global Solidarity Run, an event organised by the Irish not-for-profit movement the Sanctuary Runners, saw diplomatic missions of Ireland, organisations, clubs and individuals in 100-countries
A global initiative, enabling people to show their solidarity with those who are forcibly displaced and people living in extreme poverty, worked its way across the world on Saturday, October 11th.
The Global Solidarity Run, an event organised by the Irish not-for-profit movement the Sanctuary Runners, saw diplomatic missions of Ireland, organisations, clubs and individuals in 100-countries take part.
Supported by Irish Aid, the European Commission and the Ireland Funds, the worldwide run began in the early hours of Saturday morning in the Solomon Islands and worked its way westwards until it concluded on the pacific islands of French Polynesia.
In Dublin’s Herbert Park a large group gathered including refugees, asylum seekers, locals, ambassadors and diplomats to run and walk together as part of the Global Solidarity Run initiative. The event was co-hosted by the European Commission Representation in Ireland. The aim of the initiative was not to raise funds but rather provide people with an opportunity to show their solidarity.
Welcoming participants Neale Richmond, Minister of State for International Development and the Diaspora said: “Showing support and solidarity for people in displacement and poverty is central to Ireland’s work around the world. At a time of unprecedented humanitarian need, Ireland is bucking the trend globally by continuing to increase its investment in development and humanitarian aid. This week we confirmed that Ireland’s aid budget will increase by €30m in 2026. That is a real sign of our enduring commitment to standing in solidarity with the people in the world left furthest behind. I want to thank everyone around the world who is taking part in the Global Solidarity Run today.”
And President Michael D Higgins, who is patron of Sanctuary Runners said: “In running together today across the world in a shared act of human empathy, Sanctuary Runners remind us of what binds us – our common humanity and our collective hope for a fairer, more compassionate world. “
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Along the global route people from a diverse range of backgrounds took part including fishing communities in the Solomon Islands, school children in South Africa, young girls in Palestine’s West Bank, a rural traditional community in Brazil, runners in Korea, diplomats of Ireland across the globe, GAA clubs in places such as Kyiv, Vienna, Kampala and Singapore, European Commission staff in Brussels and cricket players in Pakistan.
The Global Solidarity Run was launched in July at the World Expo in Osaka and last month EU Commissioner Michael McGrath led an event in Brussels to promote the initiative.
Sanctuary Runners was founded in 2018 in Cork to enable people to use running, jogging and walking to bring people across the community together including locals, migrants and especially those seeking international protection and refugees. Since its establishment more than 40,000 people have taken part in a Sanctuary Runner activity and this summer Sanctuary Runners GB was launched in England. Earlier this year Sanctuary Runners was named Community Organisation of the Year at the Irish Red Cross Awards and it is shortlisted for a major international award at the International Sport and Culture Association Awards in Copenhagen at the end of this month.
Graham Clifford, founder of Sanctuary Runners, and the person behind the Global Solidarity Run concept, said the buy in this year across the world has been extraordinary.
He said: “We’re seeing a huge appetite from people to come together to show solidarity with those who must leave their home countries seeking safety and sanctuary. That includes solidarity with asylum seekers and refugees here in Ireland. At a time when others seek to weaponise immigration for their own agendas the Global Solidarity Run shows that so many people right across the world want to make their voices heard – voices of humanity, compassion, empathy and decency. We’re so grateful for all the support in this, our second year of the run. And we want to keep growing it so that next year we have more participants in more countries making an even bigger and louder statement of solidarity.”
Included in the Herbert Park event this morning were Ambassadors to Ireland and diplomats from Georgia, Moldova, Lithuania, Italy, Croatia, Spain and Belgium.
Peter Power, Head of the European Commission Representation in Ireland, said: ‘Solidarity underpins everything we do as a Union. It’s embedded in our Treaties and reflected in all our actions. Today, as we join the Sanctuary Runners’ Global Solidarity Run, we reaffirm that commitment by being side by side with those who have been forcibly displaced and who are living in conditions of extreme hardship. This initiative puts solidarity, inclusion and human dignity up in lights. Each step we take together sends a clear message that the European Union stands with all those seeking safety, hope, and a better future.”
For more information on the Sanctuary Runners visit sanctuaryrunners.s1.matrix-test.com/
