After losing her husband to the war in South Sudan, social worker Lilian Dawa fled with her two young children to Uganda, where she helps other refugee women as an IRC community volunteer.

“When you start doing anything, at first it’s going to be frightening,” Bothina Matar reassures the refugee women she works with in Dallas. She encourages them to strive for a better future—their children’s future—without forgetting their past. “I am trying my best,” Bothina tells them, “and succeeding somehow.”

World-renowned musician Femi Kuti recently traveled to northeastern Nigeria to meet with people displaced from areas ravaged for years by Boko Haram and see the International Rescue Committee's crisis response in action.

Whether it’s ensuring girls have access to school and aren’t forced to marry, preventing domestic violence or getting women into work, these activists are determined to build a better world.

As one of the phenomenal women around the world who dedicate their lives to protecting people caught in conflict, Ifrah is on the front line of ending violence against women in Ethiopia.

Despite hardship and uncertainty, these resilient Syrian refugee mothers are raising confident daughters. Here are some of their stories.