“I call the children one by one to see what it is inside the box,” explains Amer,* an educator with the International Rescue Committee. “I explain to them that they will find the picture of a very important person inside the box, someone who set up his or her goals and achieved them.” Amer is one of IRC's educators who provide street and working children in Beirut, including Syrian refugees fleeing from war, with psychosocial support, recreational activities and basic literacy and numeracy classes. Educators facilitate a number of games, such as the mirror box, to help children improve confidence, creativity and thinking skills.

From championing refugee rights to advocating for other women, we’re celebrating these women leaders who won’t wait for change to happen.

12-year-old Nyaber was separated from her parents when violence broke out in her village - this is her story.

Melia had to face extreme dangers on her journey to collect water.

Abdu remembers looking out of the window of his house fondly. Alongside luscious crops he recalls seeing his three young children playing with their friends, and his father watching on.

If you’re struggling to remember positive news about 2024, you’re not alone. Here are 8 stories that inspired us this year and gave us hope for 2025.

The focus on innovation is not new for the IRC. The organisation has improvised, taken risks, and found ingenious ways to help our clients since our founding in the 1930s. Innovation is embedded in the IRC’s work, in real time and in response to scarcity and extreme difficulties. The IRC was one of the first agencies to test and then adopt parenting programmes in crisis-affected areas.  During the Ebola crisis in Liberia, the IRC was the first organisation to bring in an anthropologist to create a community-based monitoring system responsive to local customs.  We were also one of the pioneers of Community Care Management health programs, and have now scaled the approach in South Sudan to reach hundreds of thousands of children.  These are just a few of the incredible innovations the IRC has already pioneered in the sector.