At first, Muska Haseeb, a refugee from Afghanistan, was scared to come to America. “I cried so much on the plane,” she recalls. “I didn't know anyone, didn’t speak English...how was I going to integrate?”

One year since the earthquake, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and our partners in Syria and Türkiye are continuing to focus on critical relief needs, while emphasizing long-term, sustainable support to rehabilitation and early recovery in impacted communities.

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.

Boubacar Tahirou has experienced both unimaginable loss and remarkable transformation in his 45 years.

Stretching into its eighth year, the Rohingya Crisis continues to demand global attention. In 2024, the IRC continued to deliver vital humanitarian support - including through vital advocacy efforts - to more than 400,000 people across Cox's Bazar, Khulna and Barisal. Programmes included health, protection, education, livelihoods and disaster preparedness.

Meet refugee changemakers who are shaping policies, art, traditions, dreams and futures in ordinary—and extraordinary—ways.