When Mukabera Uwamaria was 15 years old, she fled the Democratic Republic of the Congo. After five months on the run, she arrived at a refugee camp in Rwanda, where she lived for the next 20 years. There, she met her husband, Eugene, and had four children. The oldest of whom is Elysee Ishimwe. Today, the family has a home in Dallas, Texas. Elysee, now an 11 year old attending Sam Tasby Middle School, was recently the recipient of a $1,000 scholarship from his elementary school. He will be awarded the money upon high school education to go towards continuing education.

Earlier this year, the IRC in Atlanta’s Adult Education team added new weekly free English classes in Gwinnett County in partnership with OneStop locations. The classes are held at OneStop Norcross and OneStop Buford and both sites have a beginner and intermediate class. Classes are offered every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 10am-12pm and from 6-8pm.

Wells Fargo has been a steadfast partner supporting the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to expand financial capability programming across the United States since 2019. Through a national grant to support multiple offices, the IRC provides comprehensive financial education, coaching, and access to affordable financial products tailored to meet the needs of diverse low-income populations.

As a way of tackling the ongoing displacement crisis, the IRC is focusing on community engagement to help with the integration of resettled refugees into our local communities, through a new Community Sponsorship model called the HOME (Housing, Orientation, Mentoring, Education) program.

The IRC’s 26 US offices offer a variety of unpaid internship opportunities throughout the year. Prospective interns must go through the volunteer process and should be currently enrolled in an educational institution or a recent graduate.

The Child Watch Center is a safe, enriching, and educational environment for refugee children. By creating this childcare program, refugee parents were able to attend more classes at the IRC.

A groundbreaking project, Ahlan Simsim by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Sesame Workshop, has been recognized by the 2023 WISE Awards. Ahlan Simsim has reached over 1.7 million children and their families directly with playful and educational learning opportunities in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, and over 25 million children through the award-winning locally produced Arabic-language version of Sesame Street airing across the Middle East and North Africa.

Roughly 1 billion children worldwide are out of school due to school closures related to COVID-19. Children in humanitarian settings face a double crisis as the health emergency disrupts their opportunities to learn, develop and thrive. Ensuring children can continue to learn during the pandemic, no matter their access to technology, must be central to the COVID-19 response in fragile contexts.