Mahsa, a young, bright, and promising student, had recently completed her high school education in Afghanistan and was eagerly pursuing her academic aspirations at a public university. During the Utah legislative session, she used her voice and her story to help pass a bill that enabled refugees to obtain in-state tuition rates at Utah universities.

“When I came here, I was on my own and I had to start from scratch.” That’s how Feven, a refugee from Ethiopia, felt when she arrived in the United States after fleeing persecution in her country. Alone in an unfamiliar place, Feven would say to herself, “Give yourself time,” a reminder that she had the power to choose how she will live her life.

The IRC in Boise invites you to celebrate Idaho Human Rights Day! Join us on Saturday, January 14th from 4pm to 7pm at JUMP and participate in a variety of classes led by refugee business owners and leaders throughout the Treasure Valley.

Last year, the IRC in Seattle launched the Better Together Family Program to support refugee mothers of young children who are new to the Seattle area. Program participants recently went on a fun, educational, and quintessentially Seattle outing to the Pacific Science Center – complete with a ride on the monorail! Learn more about this exciting new program.

The IRC in Atlanta’s Career Development and Adult Education programs, in collaboration with Gwinnett Dental Career Academy (GDCA), recently graduated a second cohort of three former refugees—all young women from Afghanistan—through their Integrated Education and Training (IET) Dental Assistant course, a ten-week program focused on certifying new Americans in dental care and placing them in jobs.

Global responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have collided with long-standing sexual and reproductive health inequities. While COVID-19 has had a significant, and in some cases devastating, impact on health systems around the world, studies show that people whose human rights are least protected—such as refugees, displaced peoples, and conflict-affected populations—are the ones who suffer the most. The IRC’s work in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh—home to the world’s largest refugee settlement—inevitably became more challenging during COVID-19. This assessment explores the intersecting impacts of the pandemic on the demand, access, and delivery of SRH services and protective measures. It incorporates the perspectives of women, girls, and boys from Rohingya and host communities, as well as service providers (e.g., frontline health workers, doctors, midwives, etc.) and other key informants (e.g., local officials, NGO staff, etc.). It was also intended as a learning exercise, so that SRH services can be more accessible and prioritized during future public health emergencies.

Eh Kaw Thaw recently graduated high school with honors. In the fifth installment of our Youth Voices series, she writes a letter to her younger self, a newly-resettled refugee in Dallas.