The United Nations General Assembly approved a resolution on December 5, 1958 establishing World Refugee Year (WRY) . WRY had two aims:
- to focus interest on the refugee problem and to encourage
additional financial contributions from Governments, voluntary agencies
and the general public for its solution
- to encourage additional opportunities for permanent
refugee solutions, through voluntary repatriation, resettlement or
integration, on a purely humanitarian basis and in accordance with the
freely expressed wishes of the refugees themselves.
States members of the United Nations and members of the
specialised agencies were urged to co-operate, in accordance with the national
wishes and needs of each country and from a humanitarian point of view,
in promoting a WRY as a practical means of securing
increased assistance for refugees throughout the world.
WRY was launched on June 28, 1959. On April 7, 1960, 125 different WRY stamps were issued simultaneously by 74 countries, including the Philippines.
The Philippines WRY Stamps
A peaceful scene of a Manila Bay sunset from a painting by artist Ben Alano (1922-1991) was the model for the stamps printed by the Government Printing Bureau of Japan.
Sunset, Manila Bay-Ben Alano
An uprooted oak tree , the symbol of WRY is seen in the lower left corner of the stamps.
First Day of Issue Cancellation
The WRY symbol is included in the first day of issue cancellation.
Overseas Mailers
(Not in author's collection)
