At a critical moment of rebuilding for the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), the IRC and the Refugee Advocacy Lab are bringing together refugee and immigrant voices, state legislators, and technical experts to celebrate their efforts to create more welcoming communities for newcomers. This virtual summit will include a panel discussion and conversations between policymakers who are advancing legislation related to education, workforce development, integration support, and more. Attendees will also have direct access to correlating policy resources and the technical support they need to replicate such measures within their own states.

The International Rescue Committee in New York and New Jersey, St Urban Concerts, and renown Syrian clarinetist and composer Kinan Azmeh are pleased to announce a partnership to support the Refugee Youth Summer Academy in Elizabeth, New Jersey. This summer program provides a supportive and healing environment that helps refugee children overcome the trauma of forced migration. Through educational, recreational, and social activities, students improve their English language skills and their confidence, enabling them to assimilate in their new communities and become engaged citizens. St Urban and Kinan Azmeh will donate 50% of the sales of the album Songs For Days To Come, Vol. 1 to help 70 refugee youth participate in the summer academy. 

The IRC in NJ’s Economic Empowerment team support clients with finding opportunities and in pursuing economic mobility.  The IRC assisted a client through the long process and encouraged her along the way. She decided to apply for an Assistant Teacher position at a Child Learning Center in Newark, NJ. It has been an emotional and long journey, but the outcome has been transformative. She takes pride in her new role, which allows her to sharpen her professional skills, contribute to childhood education, and expand her English.  

Our team’s ability to operate in communities across the country is rooted in their expertise and decades-long presence.

In honor of National Human Trafficking Awareness Month in January, the IRC in Silver Spring sat down with Winifrida Kassembe, Anti-Trafficking Caseworker, to interview her about the office’s efforts to combat human trafficking in Maryland. The focus of the Anti-Trafficking Program is to ensure that survivors have access to protection and opportunities to achieve self-sufficiency through comprehensive case management, advocacy, education, collaboration, and capacity building.

The IRC is hiring three Washington Service Corps members in Seattle and Spokane. This is an exciting opportunity to play a critical role on the amazing IRC WA Youth & Education team

The Happy Families Program is a parenting and family skills intervention implemented with displaced Burmese families living on the Thai–Burmese border. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) and research partners from the Harvard School of Public Health and Duke University found that the intervention had a significant impact on parenting practices, family functioning, and child behavior.

The CRC came into existence in 1989. Despite the global support for this convention to be ratified, children’s’ protection and other rights are far from a reality for millions of children around the world.