Launched by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in 2021, the Community Navigator Pilot Program (CNPP) is an innovative approach to serving historically disadvantaged small business owners who were disproportionately impacted by the economic shocks and hardship of the COVID-19 pandemic. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has been serving immigrant, newcomer, refugee, and mainstream community small business owners in communities since 1999 and was proud to join the SBA as a national partner in implementing CNPP.

Amidst the journeys undertaken by numerous asylum seekers across the Americas in pursuit of safety and security, they encounter a significant challenge: the lack of reliable information to alleviate their hardships. Hence, the IRC supports displaced people on their journey by facilitating access to digital platforms where they can encounter information and services they need.

After years of upheaval and uncertainty, refugee & immigrant girls in the United States are ready to explore their path in life. Vision Not Victim supports these young women to envision their future and redefine what their communities and they themselves thought possible. Run by the IRC previously in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Jordan, the IRC in Northern California piloted the program in the United States over April's spring break in Oakland.

This summer, the IRC in Richmond's youth team led a season full of learning, connection, and empowerment for refugee and immigrant youth. From after school programs and college visits to summer camps and new initiatives, youth of all ages had opportunities to grow socially, emotionally, and academically. These efforts reflect the IRC’s ongoing commitment to supporting young people as they build brighter futures in their new home.

Earlier this year RAI-US launched the Pathways to Careers in Resettlement, Asylum, and Integration Scholarship Opportunity, as a new resource to diversify and enhance the talent pipeline, specifically targeting RAI-US internships. The scholarship’s main objective is to promote career paths in humanitarian work for BIPOC and/or immigrant populations and further our commitment to a diverse and inclusive internship experience. After receiving 35 applications from RAI-US interns, 8 interns have been selected to receive a $5,000 scholarship. One of those eight was chosen from the IRC in Oakland. Oakland is excited to introduce this year’s scholarship recipient: Gianna D’Arrigo!

Olive Cicon may only be 9 years old, but the Tracy resident already has amassed a team of volunteers to assist refugees and other special immigrants as part of her "passion project"--and she's giving $5 of her own money to kick off her campaign. The following interview between Olive and her mother, Nettie Cicon, details how Olive plans to assist beneficiaries from the International Rescue Committee in Turlock/Modesto, and how others can help:  

Migration has been at the top of the European political agenda since 2015 following a spike in people, including refugees and asylum seekers, arriving to southern European countries by sea. Today, European Union (EU) leaders remain constrained by internal political divisions over how to manage arrivals to Europe. The resulting shortcomings in the European policy response have been seized upon by populist movements across Europe as evidence that migration is out of control, in turn fueling anti-immigrant sentiments.

People arriving at the U.S. border have the legal right to request asylum without being criminalized, turned back or separated from their children.