Originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, IRC clients John, Beata, Furaha and Dezir were recently hired by a local textile manufacturer that has switched gears to produce personal protective equipment (PPE) for local emergency services departments and front-line workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now in their third week on the job, these resilient new Americans are grateful for the opportunity to work and give back to the community that welcomed them.

After fleeing Syria, Kholood and her cousin Naheda started a handmade clothing business in Jordan.

Education systems across parts of Ethiopia are actively strengthening children’s learning, even amid environmental stress, conflict, displacement, and resource constraints. As access to schooling expands, attention is increasingly shifting toward learning quality. UNICEF estimates that around 7.6 million children remain out of school, while many enrolled learners struggle to achieve foundational literacy by age 10, underscoring the opportunity to introduce teaching approaches that more effectively support learning and wellbeing in diverse classroom contexts.

Each year over half of the refugees resettled by the IRC in San Diego are children; in 2022 18% of new arrivals were under 18 years old. Having reached the US, their futures are brighter than the uncertainty, conflict and violence they left behind but as they enter the American education system, refugee youth face a unique set of barriers to academic success.

Life drastically changed for Dalal and the other young women after fleeing the conflict in Syria. They are among the 13.5 million people displaced by this devastating war, now in its eighth year.