Syrian-Palestinian cartoonist Hani Abbas teams up with UNHCR for NFT charity sale

The original crypto works are selling for more than $3,000 and will support refugees from Afghanistan and neighbouring countries

'Windows' by Hani Abbas, one of his works for UNHCR's charity NFT collection. Photo: UNHCR

To mark the 70th anniversary of the UN Refugee Convention, and the establishment of UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, the organisation is selling a collection of 70 non-fungible token (NFT) artworks by Syrian-Palestinian cartoonist, Hani Abbas.

The original crypto works are being sold for 0.7 Ethereum ($3,177) and 87.5 per cent of sale proceeds will go directly to the refugees' cause, net of natural costs and platform fees. Profit will be directed to the protection and support of people forced to flee their homes in Afghanistan and in neighbouring countries.

The pieces explore the themes of injustice, loss and the human cost of conflict by offering a look into the “windows to the heart” of refugees, says La fondation Switzerland for UNHCR, the agency's national partner in the country.

"I don’t have any experience of this – I just do the drawings! But every cartoonist wants their work to be seen, and I support these new ideas. Anything that will help people and explain the hard conditions and problems they face, and allow other people to support them," says Abbas of the initiative.

You can see the full collection of Abbas' crypto artwork here.

Abbas, 44, is a Syrian-Palestinian cartoonist. He was born in the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk, near Damascus in Syria, in 1977. In 2012, Abbas was forced to flee Syria with his family, seeking asylum in Switzerland, where he is now settled. His cartoon works are regularly published in international publications worldwide.