As Europe struggles to mitigate a humanitarian crisis, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has returned to the Balkans, launching operations in Serbia in support of local organisations providing relief to people seeking safety.

Like any teenager, 14-year-old Marah* has spent a lot of time grappling with that question. She’s sitting with a group of other girls inside a women and girls' centre in Lebanon’s Bekka Valley, listening intently to a discussion about building trusting relationships with parents. She’s here because she wants to learn how to better communicate with her father about something very important to her: She wants to go back to school.

This year for “16 days” we highlight 16 basic rights that women and girls are so often denied in the places where we work, as well as the ways IRC supports women and girls in claiming their rights and acting as agents of change in their communities.

In 1984, Raesa,* just 14 years old, left her family in Jordan and moved to Syria with her husband to start a new life. When civil war broke out 28 years later, Raesa was forced to flee with her children, triplets, and seek refuge back in her own country.“We left Syria through the village of Tell Shihab and went to Ramtha [in Jordan]”, Raesa says, who is now the sole breadwinner for her family. Her husband decided to stay behind with his second wife and their family.

As we mark the second anniversary of the Ebola outbreak, Darren Hertz, an IRC aid worker recalls his experiences fighting the deadly disease that took the lives of almost four thousand people within the country

Sixteen-year-old Wala’a is haunted by a terrifying memory—being assaulted by a soldier as she fled the war in Syria. One of more than 700,000 refugees now living in Jordan, she struggles to come to terms with the losses and hardships the conflict has inflicted on her and her family. But Wala’a has found a way to tell her story.

These are the voices of women in the Central African Republic. Since 2013 the already unstable country has descended into chaos and become engulfed by sectarian violence. Approximately 120,000 people have fled the country since December. Reports of sexual violence have increased dramatically. The IRC provides counselling, medical referrals and critical household supplies to women in the Central African Republic. The path towards peace must address the needs and include the voices of women and girls.

The word ‘refugee’ brings to mind rows of white tents spread over remote and dusty plains – today has made me think differently. I am in Nairobi, home to tens of thousands of refugees trying to survive and build a new life in Kenya’s sprawling capital. Eastleigh, a neighbourhood on the east side of the city, is home to an estimated 120,000 refugees. The majority are Somalis who have fled conflict and drought in their own country. Rather than head for refugee camps, increasingly they seek the anonymity and opportunities for self-reliance offered by the city. They are not alone in this choice – according to the UNHCR, the UN’s refugee body, more than half of the world’s refugees now live in urban settings.

The International Rescue Committee understands how vital education can be for creating stability and reducing trauma for children affected by conflict. Through the Children of Peace initiative the IRC and the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) are training teachers, rebuilding classrooms, providing a quality education, as well as leisure activities, and helping children have a normal childhood. The IRC is also working closely with parents and the community to invest in the futures of their children through education.

This note outlines the critical importance of World Bank investments in fragile states and crisis-related funding through IDA, offers a constructive critique and stock-taking of the Bank’s latest efforts and provides recommendations for the Bank and its shareholders to consider moving forward.