“It’s important to support the LGBTQ+ community because, as human beings, we should have the same responsibilities and rights. The more inclusion, the less discrimination we’ll experience.”

On Wednesday, September 29, the IRC in Atlanta’s Executive Director, Justin Howell, hosted a webinar briefing with our partners—Alpa Amin, Executive Director of Georgia Asylum & Immigration Network (GAIN); Marjan Nadir, Economic Empowerment Manager at Refugee Women’s Network (RWN); and Chris Purdy, Director of Veterans for American Ideals and Outreach at Human Rights First—to discuss our work and how the community can help us welcome and support new Afghan arrivals in Georgia and continue our more than 40-year history of welcoming refugees to our state.

Breaches of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law during the two-year old conflict have precipitated the largest humanitarian crisis in the world, affecting 18 million people.

Global responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have collided with long-standing sexual and reproductive health inequities. While COVID-19 has had a significant, and in some cases devastating, impact on health systems around the world, studies show that people whose human rights are least protected—such as refugees, displaced peoples, and conflict-affected populations—are the ones who suffer the most. The IRC’s work in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh—home to the world’s largest refugee settlement—inevitably became more challenging during COVID-19. This assessment explores the intersecting impacts of the pandemic on the demand, access, and delivery of SRH services and protective measures. It incorporates the perspectives of women, girls, and boys from Rohingya and host communities, as well as service providers (e.g., frontline health workers, doctors, midwives, etc.) and other key informants (e.g., local officials, NGO staff, etc.). It was also intended as a learning exercise, so that SRH services can be more accessible and prioritized during future public health emergencies.