The International Rescue Committee in Salt Lake City actively participated in the 2021 Utah Legislative Session providing opportunities for refugees to shape policy outcomes and lead the way in making Utah a more welcoming state for all who live here.

Update: February 24, 2021. The IRC responded to extreme winter weather conditions affecting Texas, causing blackouts and water shortages. Both IRC locations in Dallas and Abilene are still closed however staff are actively responding to client needs remotely.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) implemented an anticipatory action cash-distribution pilot among six agro-pastoralist communities in Northeast Nigeria, focused on reducing the damaging effects of flooding. Prior to the flood season of 2022, the IRC set up an early warning system with local hydrometeorological agencies to trigger pre-flooding cash distribution to resource-constrained communities vulnerable to flooding. The program aimed to improve the adaptive capacities of these communities through improved systems for information sharing about climate risks and severity, and resource access to undertake mitigation measures. Researchers measured the cost-effectiveness of a pre-flooding cash distribution triggered by the early warning system, as compared to traditional post-shock resource disbursement. 1,450 households were randomly assigned to receive pre- or post-shock distributions. Low cost transfer ratios, in addition to positive impact evaluation results, suggest that the pre-shock modality may be more cost-effective than business-as-usual post-shock transfers. The Anticipatory Cash project cost $695 per household receiving pre-shock cash transfers, which drops to $610 per household without system set-up activities. 71% of total group costs went to the cash grant itself. Similar cost-transfer ratios between pre- and post-shock groups suggest that the anticipatory cash response is just as cost-efficient as the post-shock modality.

In partnership with the IKEA Foundation, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) launched Refugees in East Africa: Boosting Urban Innovations for Livelihoods Development (Re:Build) in 2021. The initiative targets 20,000 refugees and host community members to help them sustainably reach economic self-reliance and social cohesion. From 2022-2023, a three-armed randomized controlled trial (RCT) tested the effectiveness of mentorship on economic well-being and social cohesion on 1,570 of the Re:Build clients. All clients received a cash grant to start or improve a small business, i.e., a micro-enterprise. The program paired one-third of the youth with experienced entrepreneurs who served as business mentors. Another third received business mentorship and engaged in perspective-sharing exercises to build trust and social cohesion. The Best Use of Resources (BUR) team measured the cost-effectiveness of improved economic outcomes among the treatment arms evaluated through the RCT. The cash-only treatment costs €731 per client, while mentorship treatment arms cost €1,133. Most expenses went to program supplies and activities for all treatment arms. In contrast, mentee support costs drove additional costs required for the mentorship treatment arms, which covered transport and mentor stipends. Of the total €1,623,629 spent on the project, 10% of the project costs went to HQ and internal cost recovery. Impact evaluation results for the randomized controlled trial will be available in May of 2024, at which time we will update this brief to complete the cost-effectiveness analysis results.

The IRC in Salt Lake City’s Economic Wellbeing team celebrates the Shapoor family’s first home! Through matched assistance programs, the IRC actively works to combat an evolving housing market through community partnership, education tailored to refugees and other immigrants, and access to financial support for eligible community members.

Under ESS10, the IRC has developed a Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP). The SEP summarizes the outcomes of 20 national and international stakeholder consultations conducted between October 2023 and March 2024. These consultations confirmed that the proposed budget activities align with Lebanon's existing needs and priorities, thereby affirming the project's relevance.

Join us in Oakland, Sacramento, San Jose and Turlock to celebrate World Refugee Day in the month of June. Celebrations span from June 15 - June 28th, 2018 and all events are FREE! Read on to find the location nearest you!

This analysis seeks to examine whether there are latrine-building programs that deliver the same output at different costs.