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the International Rescue Committee (IRC) works to end domestic violence
Many women in West Africa face violent from their spouse on a daily basis
Women face domestic violence if they do not complete their daily chores
The IRC helps women use their voices and make change in their communities
<p>There are different paths to justice, but they rarely lead to any consequences for the man or resolution for the survivor. Many times a woman faces further violence or isolation for coming forward. But as a woman in Monrovia, Liberia said, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t need an eye for an eye; I need something to stop what&rsquo;s happening to me once and for all.&rdquo;</p>
IRC helps women find work, economic opportunities to take control of their lives
IRC helps women end domestic violence in their communities
IRC cals attention to domestic violence, an often ignored issue during conflict

Domestic Violence

Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone
05.18.2012

Violence against women is one of the most widespread of human rights abuses.  In war-torn regions where destruction, displacement and lawlessness breed yet more violence, women increasingly face abuse in their homes.  Around the world, the IRC helps survivors heal and works with communities and institutions to break the cycle of violence.

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Children at Jalozai Camp in Pakistan study in their tent classroom
A pair of shy young girl students smiles at the camera.
A boy is engaged in class activity at an IRC tent school.
A young girl traces letters in a penmanship class.
Young students enjoy recess at an IRC-run school at the Jalozai Camp.
A student at an IRC-run school at Jalozai Camp plays cricket during recess.
Girl students enjoy recess with their teacher at Jalozai Camp.
The dusty Camp streets are lined with canvas walls, behind which, are tents.
A student peers out of her tent classroom.

Providing stability amid upheaval

Refuge, Pakistan
05.10.2012

More than 5,200 children attend IRC-run schools at the Jalozai camp for those displaced by conflict. The schools provide a stable environment and a routine that helps the children recover from the traumatizing experiences many have faced. Teachers are trained to actively involve students in learning, increasing their self-awareness and confidence.

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<p>Since it gained its independence from the Republic of Sudan in July 2011, South Sudan has been struggling to build the world&rsquo;s newest nation from scratch amid border clashes with Sudan. Now it finds itself dealing with an influx of refugees as escalating violence between the Sudanese army and ethnic-Nuban rebels in South Kordofan forces hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.&nbsp;</p>
<p>A least 28,000 Sudanese have fled into South Sudan to the remote Yida refugee camp. Among them are many women and girls who were raped while they were fleeing the crisis. The IRC is providing immediate medical assistance, emotional support and other services to help them heal. &nbsp;</p>
<p>With as many as 400 desperate refugees arriving in Yida every day, the camp is being stretched beyond its resources and isn&rsquo;t always a safe haven. &nbsp;Many women have been assaulted while foraging for firewood to cook their meals, fetching clean water or finding a private place to go to the bathroom.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Women living alone in the camp are particularly vulnerable to attacks by groups of armed men who roam the area.&nbsp;</p>
<p>But the threat of violence comes from inside the home as well. Domestic violence is widespread and, like so many other forms of violence against women, goes mostly unreported. &nbsp;As one Sudanese woman in the camp said, &ldquo;It is so common, who would you tell? &nbsp;Everyone is being beaten.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The risk of contracting HIV or other diseases after a rape or other sexual assault is high. &nbsp;Many of the women arriving in Yida have not had access to adequate health care or to information that can help them keep themselves safe. In a region with the world&#39;s highest maternal mortality rates, most do not know what options they have for safe childbirth.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Nor do these women and girls have the power to make important decisions for themselves. In some cases, young girls are forced to marry much older men &mdash;&nbsp;given as wives in exchange for money or other resources that a family desperately needs to survive.</p>
<p>The IRC recently opened a Women and Girls&rsquo; Wellness Center where survivors of sexual and domestic violence can safely report abuse and receive medical treatment, counseling and other assistance. &nbsp;This new center also provides a place where pregnant women can give birth and learn how to keep themselves and their babies healthy.&nbsp;</p>

Protecting women in Yida

South Sudan
04.17.2012

Refugees fleeing South Kordofan in the Republic of Sudan are crossing the border into South Sudan as violence escalates in the embattled region.  The IRC is working in the remote Yida refugee camp to provide assistance for women and girls who have been sexually assaulted while fleeing the crisis and after their arrival.

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An elderly woman sits in her courtyard in rural Pakistan
A rural Pakistani woman fries an egg.
A young girl peeks from behind shawls drying in the sun.
A 22-year-old Pakistani woman sews clothing to help her family
A woman milks a goat in rural Pakistan
<p>She serves the goats&#39; milk to her children, to ensure they are nourished as well. While she acknowledges the importance of her husband, who&#39;s in the fields planting sugar cane, they both acknowledge that everyone in the family plays a crucial role.</p>
A villager making sugar in rural Pakistan.
A Pakistani villager plows
Girls carrying loads of fodder

Pakistan's rural women

Women, Asia
03.07.2012

In rural Pakistan, women play an important role in every aspect of family, culture, work and life. The IRC's Ned Colt met several generations of women from one family in a village where we've been helping residents recover from the devastating floods which inundated close to a fifth of the country in 2010. 

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<p>A year after the disaster, Japan&rsquo;s coastal cities are still filled with rubble. Recovered photo albums and other keepsakes have been placed near the entrances of the few buildings that still stand.</p>
<p>A fisherman harvests abalone in Minami Sanriku, a once thriving fishing village where some 9,500 people perished.</p>
<p>Nearly a quarter of Japan&#39;s population is 65 or older. Losing family members, homes and possessions has made the elderly even more vulnerable and dependent on outside help. Here, staff members from the Japanese aid group Association for Aid and Relief (AAR) spend time with elderly survivors at a nursing home, near the city of Rikuzentakata.</p>
<p>Following the disaster, this nursing home provided shelter to about 600 people. The AAR, with the IRC&rsquo;s support, has helped repair the home as well as distribute food to the elderly.</p>
<p>AAR&rsquo;s Honda Masumi walks among the ruins of what was once a school in the city of Kamaishi. The city&rsquo;s breakwater, recognized by the Guinness World Records as the world&rsquo;s deepest, was destroyed by the tsunami.</p>
<p>As part of a health program for the elderly, AAR&rsquo;s Honda Masumi massages an elderly woman in an evacuation center near the city of Kamaishi.</p>
<p>Children at the Karakuwa elementary school in Kesennuma prepare for a school performance. The IRC and its partner Peace Winds Japan equipped the school with furniture and other items.</p>
<p>Waka Ueno, 86, lost her home in the tsunami. She now lives in an evacuation center in the fishing hamlet of Hakozaki.</p>
<p>With support from the IRC, the aid group Japanese Emergency NGO (JEN) is helping fishermen get back to work. These fishermen received aid to restart fish farms on the devastated Oshika peninsula.</p>
<p>JEN and the IRC are helping fishermen replace equipment and local tradesmen to manufacture new fishing tools. Here, Motomu Suenaga teaches a young fisherman, Fumiyuki Abe, how to make a traditional fishnet.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p><p class="p1">The IRC&#39;s Japan advisor, Shinko Tana, hands over snow blowers, shovels and other equipment to Tadamitsu Wakasaki, deputy mayor of the tsunami-stricken city of Kamaishi.</p>
<p>After the tsunami hit the city of Rikuzentakata, the Seisho-kan vocational center, which served mentally and physically disabled people, was inundated with people seeking help. The ARR handed out food, heaters and other supplies. A year after the disaster, Satoshi Chiba (above) is able to resume his work printing billboards and stickers.</p>

Japan, one year on

Emergency Response, Japan
03.06.2012

On Japan’s tsunami-devastated northeast coast, the IRC is helping Japanese aid groups support the elderly and people with disabilities; supply people living on remote islands with food, fuel, tents, blankets and other critical supplies; and help kick-start the fishing industry.

Story and photos by the IRC's Peter Biro.

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A child shines shoes in Afghanistan's Northwest city of Herat
A young boy in one of the IRC's education programs
This family in Herat received a kitchen kit from the IRC
The IRC oversees the drilling of a water well.
A powerhouse housing micro hydropower equipment.
An Afghan man uses a zip line to transport goods across a river.

Inside our work in Afghanistan

Afghani Refugees, Asia
02.12.2012

Having endured decades of conflict and frequent natural disasters, Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries on earth. The IRC focuses on emergency preparedness and response as well as longer term development. Currently working in seven of the country’s 34 provinces, the IRC’s staff is 98% Afghan.
 

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This woman is arranging pagne, a waxed cotton fabric women use for dresses.
A staff member checks the IDs of people arriving at the fair.
A woman exults when she receives a $75 voucher.
A woman carrying her baby on her back looks at a bolt of fabric.
A man selects three corrugated metal panels to build a home.
A boy gives a vendor a coupon in exchange for a flashlight and batteries.
A woman carries a travel bag, a washing basin and a rolled corrugated sheet.
Two people carry mattresses they purchased at the fair over their heads.
An IRC staff member checks merchandise of visitors who have cashed in coupons.
A fair-goer carries bundles of goods home on a motorbike.
Vendors exchange the vouchers they have collected for credit with the IRC.
A woman with the washing basins she bought at the fair.

Starting over in Congo

Emergency Response, Africa, D.R. Congo
01.18.2012

Last year, the IRC organized three fairs in Congo’s South Kivu Province, which continues to be marred by insecurity and large population displacements. More than 5,000 families—some who were forced from home by violence, others who have been sharing their homes with the uprooted—exchanged IRC vouchers for basic items they need to rebuild their lives.  The fairs, sponsored by UNICEF, also gave local merchants business, providing an important economic boost to the region.

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<p>Two years on, many earthquake survivors who lost their homes are still living in tent camps and other makeshift selttlements in around the ravaged capital city, Port-au-Prince. Jencarlos visited a camp called St. Etienne and saw a &quot;child-friendly space&quot; run by the IRC where children were singing, dancing, reading and drawing. The IRC sets up these spaces within camps so that thousands of children have safe places to play, learn, and socialize.</p>
<p>Jencarlos was the special guest at the opening of a new meeting place for a Girls&#39; Group in the Teleco camp. There he met 30 girls ranging in age from 9&ndash;17 who were singing, dancing and laughing. The IRC created these groups for young survivors of rape and other forms of sexual violence, giving them a place to heal and to build positive self-esteem. The members use role playing and theater to help them deal with physical, emotional and mental abuse. Jencarlos was invited to judge a singing competiton and declared all of the contestants winners.</p>
<p>Jencarlos stops to speak with two residents of St. Etienne after seeing how one water pump can radically improve the lives of people in their &nbsp;community.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Jencarlos visiting the Mega 4 camp, where he watched some very talented young soccer players scrimmage.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Jencarlos and children from St. Etienne posed for a group photo. &ldquo;I identify a lot with the mission of the IRC in helping children and their families who flee from dangerous situations&rdquo; says Jencarlos. &nbsp;&ldquo;I cannot imagine a work more gratifying than using my time and voice to support their humanitarian work. &nbsp;Helping people in need has always been my dream.&rdquo;</p>

Jencarlos in Haiti

Haiti
12.15.2011

Singer, actor and IRC Voice Jencarlos Canela recently visited IRC programs in Haiti that are helping those who lost homes and loved ones in the massive earthquake of January 2010. Jencarlos had the opportunity to meet hundreds of children and their families who are still displaced nearly two years after the disaster. 

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WASH, IRC, Education, Students, floods, Pakistan
IRC, Education, Students, floods, Pakistan
IRC, Education, Students, floods, Pakistan
IRC, Education, Students, floods, Pakistan
IRC, Education, Students, floods, Pakistan
IRC, Education, Students, floods, Pakistan
IRC, Education, Students, floods, Pakistan
IRC, Education, Students, floods, Pakistan
IRC, Education, Students, floods, Pakistan

A class in post-flood recovery

Education, Asia, Pakistan
12.05.2011

As many as five thousand schools were damaged or destroyed in Pakistan's record flooding of 2010.  During this past summer, the IRC rehabilitated nine schools in northern Pakistan. We also retrained teachers, and revived Parent Teacher Associations. 

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An IRC health volunteer translates for a Burmese family at a meeting in Bangkok
A boy makes his way home on a makeshift raft.
An IRC advocacy coordinator distributes water purification tablets in Bangkok
Kaew Nimit and her family wade through flood waters in Bangkok

In the flood's wake

Thailand
11.28.2011

While Thailand’s worst flooding in half a century recedes from most of the capital, nearly a half million Burmese residents of Bangkok are still being seriously affected by the devastation left in the flood’s wake. The IRC is aiding both Burmese and Thai residents in two of the city's hardest-hit neighborhoods. 

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