DANBURY, CT -- Farooq Kathwari, chairman, president and CEO of Ethan Allen, was honored this week during the U.S. Association for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) gala in New York City in commemoration of its parent organization's 60th anniversary. Also know as the U.N. Refugee Agency, UNHCR has safely repatriated or resettled more than 50 million refugees and displaced people around the world.

The USA for UNHCR event commemorated the lifesaving efforts of the UN Refugee Agency, while bestowing honors upon Kathwari, ABC News correspondent JuJu Chang, and chairman of Weber Shandwick public relations firm Jack Leslie for their dedication to raising awareness of the plight of refugees worldwide.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. The agency is mandated to lead and coordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another country with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally, or to resettle in a third country. It also has a mandate to help stateless people. In more than six decades, the agency has helped tens of millions of people restart their lives.

Kathwari dedicates a large part of his life to humanitarian causes and is a member of the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders; a director and former chairman of Refugees International; a director of the International Rescue Committee; a director of the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University and the Henry L. Stimson Center; and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Recognized by the U.S. government as an Outstanding American by Choice, Kathwari's many honors include the Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal, the EPIIC Global Citizenship Award from Tufts University, and the National Human Relations Award from the American Jewish Committee. "I am honored to be recognized by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, an organization who has, in its 60 years, positively impacted so many lives," said Kathwari.

Source: Ethan Allen Interiors, Inc.