Meet Nancy Joseph-Gould, who has worked to solve problems for refugees since she started volunteering in 2016 at the Denver office of the International Rescue Committee. From creating summer camp opportunities for refugee children to helping families register their children for school and obtain the services and supports they need to succeed and so much more, she has demonstrated that one person can truly improve the lives of people in need.

The IRC in Wichita is currently holding weekly informational meetings and is inviting members of the community to come to the IRC to learn more about the case management, employment and adult education services to refugees resettling in Wichita as well as ways that individuals or organizations may get involved with the IRC.

Mid-December 2022, the International Rescue Committee published its annual Emergency Watchlist, identifying the 20 countries in the world most at risk to face a severe humanitarian crisis or a deterioration of an ongoing humanitarian crisis in 2023. Once again, our unique methodology based on 67 indicators and discussions with key stakeholders in the region, concluded that the situations in 5 West African countries are of high concern. Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria are all countries where conflict, climate change, and economic turmoil impact the lives of millions of people and limits their access to quality health, education, and protection services, food, and sometimes, even to benefit from humanitarian assistance. These countries need the world’s attention to help displaced and host populations survive, recover, and rebuild their lives. This report aims to dive into these contexts and unpack the accelerators of the humanitarian crisis to then better identify the guardrails that decision makers need to rebuild so people can move from harm to home.

The program, called Play Well, creates and adapts play-based social-emotional learning (SEL) content to be delivered via radio, phone-based audio services, and other digital platforms where internet-access is limited, providing modular content that promotes playful learning at home.

Months of escalating hostility towards Ukraine have culminated in a concerted invasion of the country and the launch of military attacks across multiple cities in Ukraine starting from February 24th, 2022. As of March 26, 2022, an estimated 2.2M people have fled to Poland from Ukraine. Many have been welcomed by the Ukrainian diaspora in Poland, many more are being hosted by Polish families, and the rest reside in recently established shelters and reception centers. While the Polish government, Polish NGOs, UN agencies, and local civil society actors have provided multisectoral relief across the country, this rapid needs assessment aims to better understand the priority needs, vulnerabilities, and barriers to accessing information, services, and humanitarian support that people fleeing the conflict in Ukraine face in Poland, including those experienced by groups with heightened vulnerability.  This assessment will be used to inform the IRC’s strategic response to these displaced populations in Poland and will be widely shared with the overall humanitarian community, including with Polish civil society and governmental bodies who have provided rapid and much needed relief to people fleeing the conflict in Ukraine.