The International Rescue Committee has been working in Afghanistan for more than 30 years and we remain dedicated to supporting people caught in this dire crisis.

In the weeks after the December 2004 tsunami, survivors in devastated Aceh province, Indonesia, who were made homeless by the waves, found themselves in often crowded living conditions that put them at an increased risk for many kinds of infectious disease. The IRC responded immediately with emergency medical care and water and sanitation programs that dramatically reduced the potential for mass outbreaks. 

In the run-up to the 2020 United States presidential election, the International Rescue Committee asked the refugees and immigrants that we serve why voting is important to them.

Chef Noori fled Afghanistan with his family in 2015. Today, with the help of the International Rescue Committee, he is greeting Afghans arriving to the U.S. with meals to make them feel at home.

Here from Setayesh*, an aid worker in Afghanistan. She did not feel safe speaking on camera, so her words are read aloud by actress and International Rescue Committee Ambassador Lena Headey.

Over 4 million Venezuelans seeking safety in other South American countries now face the added threat of COVID-19. IRC Voice and actor Morena Baccarin recently caught up with IRC country director Marianne Menjivar, who she met in 2019 during a visit to IRC programs in Colombia.

Ammar is a refugee from Syria living in Greece. He spent 10 months living in a camp on the Greek islands before moving to Athens, where he now volunteers to keep people safe and fed during COVID-19. “Since this pandemic started, my first response was to help out,” he says.  Learn more about the essential contributions of refugees like Ammar during COVID-19 and beyond.  

People living in crowded refugee camps have no way to "social distance." Learn how the IRC team in Kenya's Kakuma camp, now home to some 194,000 refugees, is helping people stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.