International Resuce Committe News

A new home in the time of need

Peter.Biro — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:26:11 +0000

06 Feb 2012

Children play in the yard of Best Friends School. (Photo: Peter Biro/IRC)

By Peter Biro

The IRC is making sure that Burmese refugee and migrant children in Thailand can get an education and at the same time be protected from child labor, trafficking and abuse.

Yes

Following drought crisis, getting food to hungry Afghans

Ned Colt — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:30:44 +0000

The IRC helping drought victims in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan

02 Feb 2012

Afghanistan is currently mired in a severe drought. (Photo: Reuters/Ahmad Masood)

The IRC is moving into Afghanistan's northwest Badghis province, to bring emergency drought aid to 3,000 families.

Last-minute charitable gifts to the IRC for 2011

Kate Sands Adams — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:55:50 +0000

15 Dec 2011

Thank you for your interest in supporting the humanitarian work of the International Rescue Committee (IRC). If you would like to make a tax-deductible charitable donation before the end of 2011, you may do so online, by mail, by phone, or by making a gift of stock or mutual funds:

Interested in supporting the humanitarian work of the IRC? Here's how to make a tax-deductible charitable donation before the end of 2011, online, by mail, by phone, or by making a gift of stock or mutual funds.

IRC opens second medical facility in war-ravaged Mogadishu

Kate Sands Adams — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:27:02 +0000

12 Dec 2011

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has opened a second medical facility in Mogadishu, the battered capital city of war-ravaged Somalia. Seven temporary tents have been erected on the grounds of a bombed-out medical clinic where doctors and nurses will provide desperately needed health services while the clinic itself is being rebuilt.

The International Rescue Committee has opened a second medical facility in Mogadishu, the battered capital city of war-ravaged Somalia.

Yes

IRC responds to cholera outbreak in the world’s largest refugee camp

Kate Sands Adams — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 17:13:17 +0000

DADAAB, Kenya

01 Dec 2011

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is responding to a cholera outbreak in Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp complex. The outbreak threatens more than 400,000 Somali refugees who have fled fighting, famine, and the region's worst drought in six decades.

The IRC is responding to a cholera outbreak in Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp complex. The outbreak threatens more than 400,000 Somali refugees who have fled fighting, famine, and the region's worst drought in six decades.

As flooding in Thailand recedes, situation still critical for Burmese refugees and migrants

Peter.Biro — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 19:26:22 +0000

Text and Photos by Peter Biro

BANGKOK, Thailand

23 Nov 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 providing clean water and other assistance to both Burmese and Thai residents.

Photo Essay Slideshow:

In the flood's wake

Yes

Four months into Somalia famine, IRC addressing urgent health needs in Mogadishu

Kate Sands Adams — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 21:14:56 +0000

MOGADISHU, Somalia

18 Nov 2011

The IRC is treating nearly 100 patients a day at its clinic in a camp in Mogadishu that shelters more than 17,000 Somalis who have been displaced by fighting and famine. (Photo: IRC)

The IRC is continuing to provide desperately needed health care to more than 40,000 people in Mogadishu, the Somali capital left in ruins by two decades of civil war.

Displaced in the desert

Peter.Biro — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:25:12 +0000

The IRC brings aid and hope to victims of famine and fighting in central Somalia.

Text and Photos by Peter Biro

GALKAYO, Somalia

17 Nov 2011

The IRC brings aid and hope to victims of famine and fighting in central Somalia

A displaced woman at a desert camp in Somalia's Mudug region. (Photo: Peter Biro/IRC)

[[SLIDESHOW]]

Text and Photos by Peter Biro

The IRC is providing livestock, water and food to tens of thousands of people in Somalia who have fled the country’s most devastating drought and famine in 60 years.

Photo Essay Slideshow:

Famine in Somalia

Yes

The journey of their lives

Peter.Biro — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:06:38 +0000

The IRC helps a young Burmese family prepare for a new home in the United States

Story and photos by Peter Biro

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia

26 Oct 2011

The IRC helps a young Burmese family prepare for a new home in the United States

Story and photos by Peter Biro

[[SLIDESHOW]]

At the airport in Kuala Lumpur, Ismail Arafat and his wife Safirah Omar wait anxiously with their baby daughter as they prepare to embark on the journey of their lives. The IRC helped the young Burmese family prepare for a new home in the United States.

Photo Essay Slideshow:

"Life is good here"

Amid major flood disaster in Thailand, aiding Burmese refugees and migrants on the margins

Peter.Biro — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:32:58 +0000

By Peter Biro

BANGKOK, Thailand

25 Oct 2011

Burmese residents in Wat Kan Ham. The building is surrounded by dirty flood water. (Photo: Peter Biro/IRC)

[[SLIDESHOW]]

Story and photos by Peter Biro

As Thailand battles its worst flooding in 50 years, the IRC is offering support to Burmese refugee and migrant workers who are being affected by the devastation. “This is a major disaster and the Burmese community is among the hardest hit,” said Christine Petrie, the IRC’s deputy program director in Thailand.

Photo Essay Slideshow:

Thailand floods

Yes

IRC ready to respond to devastating earthquake in Turkey

Kate Sands Adams — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 19:46:28 +0000

24 Oct 2011

The International Rescue Committee's Emergency Response Team is on standby to aid survivors of a 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck eastern Turkey on Sunday, killing nearly 300 people.

The cities of Ercis and Van were hit hardest by the massive quake, which collapsed some 970 buildings and damaged thousands more. The death toll is expected to rise by the hundreds as rescuers continue to search for people trapped amid the rubble.

The IRC's Emergency Response Team is on standby to aid survivors of a 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck eastern Turkey on Sunday, killing hundreds. The death toll is expected to rise dramatically as rescuers continue to search for people trapped amid the rubble.

IRC responds to the worst cholera crisis in Chad in more than a decade

Kate Sands Adams — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:55:09 +0000

Cholera outbreak in Chad

ABECHE, Chad

06 Oct 2011

The International Rescue Committee is responding to the worst cholera outbreak to hit Chad in over a decade. More than 15,000 cases of the water-borne disease have been reported since January 2011.

The IRC is responding to the worst cholera crisis to hit Chad in over a decade. The outbreak threatens densely populated camps that are sheltering more than 260,000 refugees from Sudan's Darfur region.

Yes

East Africa Drought: Update on the IRC's response

Kate Sands Adams — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 18:21:05 +0000

East Africa drought update

28 Sep 2011

Dahiro Ibrahim Ahmed, 29, fled the drought with her eight children to Dadaab, Kenya. There, her family waits to be registered to get much-needed food, water and health care. (Photo: Peter Biro/IRC)

The IRC, which has worked in East Africa since the1990s and has been responding to the current drought for over a year, is mobilizing a multi-faceted aid effort across Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia.

Yes

Investing in life

Kate Sands Adams — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 20:13:13 +0000

In war-torn eastern Congo the IRC is aiding survivors of sexual violence and helping them achieve financial independence

Congo: Investing in life

30 Aug 2011

The IRC offers programs that help women achieve economic self-sufﬁciency. (Photo: Vanessa Vick)

Yes

Giving birth in a new land

Kate Sands Adams — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 17:28:41 +0000

For newly arrived refugee women, giving birth in a new country can be terrifying. The IRC’s pregnancy support program helps make the experience easier – and joyful.

Giving birth in a new land

By Martha Dodge

BALTIMORE, Maryland

23 Aug 2011

Hlawn Kim (center) recovers in the hospital after her Caesarean section. (Photo: Martha Dodge)

For newly arrived refugee women, giving birth in a new country can be terrifying. The IRC’s pregnancy support program helps make the experience easier – and joyful.

Yes

Update on the IRC's drought response in Africa

Kate Sands Adams — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:20:19 +0000

Update on our drought response

19 Aug 2011

The drought in the Horn and East Africa has been described as the worst in 60 years, with an estimated 12.5 million people facing a severe food crisis and in urgent need of emergency assistance. While the current crisis has attracted international attention, drought has been a chronic problem in the region for much longer, one which the International Rescue Committee has been responding to for over a year.

While the current crisis has attracted international attention, drought has been a chronic problem inEast Africa for much longer, one which the IRC has been responding to for over a year.

Yes

Mother and child at drought nutrition center

Refugees plant new roots in community gardens

ashish.kathuria — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 20:00:05 +0000

The IRC helps refugees get back to the land and healthy ways of growing and eating food.

Refugees plant new roots in U.S.

Story and photos by Peter Biro

17 Aug 2011

Few places are more dissimilar than the remote mountain villages of Central Africa and the car-clogged suburbs of Salt Lake City. But Annociate Uwineza, a refugee from Burundi, has recreated a little bit of Africa on a patch of land in Utah.

Photo Essay Slideshow:

New Roots

Yes

In Haiti, preparing for the threat of a new disaster

Kate Sands Adams — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 16:55:10 +0000

Haiti: Preparing for a new disaster

Interview by Roxanne Paisible

Port-au-Prince, Haiti

16 Aug 2011

After heavy storms swept through their camp last September, the IRC delivered tarps and building kits to families who had had
their temporary dwellings destroyed. (Photo: Susana Ferreira/IRC)

A lifeline in the desert

Peter.Biro — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 21:01:12 +0000

A lifeline in the desert

02 Aug 2011

When three-year-old Somali refugee Aden Abdile Ibrahim arrived in Dadaab, he weighed only 11 pounds. After a week of treatment in the IRC stabilization center Aden has gained two pounds and is on his way to recovery.

Text and Photos by Peter Biro

[[SLIDESHOW]]

Photo Essay Slideshow:

A lifeline in the desert

Yes

IRC, fellow humanitarian agencies urge greater response to famine in Somalia

Kate Sands Adams — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 12:01:52 +0000

IRC, fellow humanitarian agencies urge greater response to famine

20 Jul 2011

With the drought crisis in Somalia today declared a famine by the United Nations, the International Rescue Committee and 77 other members of the Somalia NGO Consortium issued a statement urging the international community to act quickly to save lives.

Habiba and baby