Drawing on the International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) experience supporting asylum seekers and refugees, we find that the reception approaches that work for people seeking protection, host communities, and asylum systems, embrace five key principles: dignity, sustainability, coordination and responsibility sharing, fairness, and benefit for all.

Since 2011 the ongoing war in Syria, which was worsened by the earthquake near the border between Türkiye in February 2023, has displaced around 1.5 million Syrians into Lebanon. Protection intervention is still of vital importance for countless affected families - and especially for adolescent girls.

As of Monday, March 23, 2020 the IRC’s office in Baltimore will be closed to protect the health of clients, partners, staff and the community during the coronavirus pandemic. Our staff will continue to work remotely and will maintain regular remote contact and appointments with the individuals and families we serve.

In response to the coronavirus outbreak, the IRC has made some changes to our programs and operations in order to help prevent the spread of the illness in our community and to protect the health of our clients, onsite partners, volunteers, and staff.

More than 224 million school-aged children are affected by crises globally. Find out more.