To respond to the specific needs of adolescent girls in humanitarian settings and to address the gap in evidence of what works to promote the health, safety and empowerment of adolescent girls, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has invested in a robust adolescent girl programming and research agenda. As part of this effort, the IRC partnered with Columbia University over a three year period (2014–2017) to develop, implement and evaluate the Creating Opportunities through Mentoring, Parental Involvement and Safe Spaces (COMPASS) program, funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID). COMPASS was implemented with refugees living in camps on the Sudan/Ethiopia border, conflict-affected communities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and displaced populations in north-west Pakistan.

EU leaders must live up to their commitments to European values in responding to migration, more than 160 NGOs said today in a joint statement. The organisations are calling for strong leadership to uphold the rights and values that have been the founding principles of the European Union for 60 years. The statement comes ahead of this week’s EU summit, following months of policies aimed at shutting migration routes across the Mediterranean at any cost. Just last month EU leaders in Malta backed an Italian migration deal with Libya that exposes people to suffering and death. The 162 organizations and networks from more than 20 states – including Oxfam, Save the Children, Care, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) – call for leadership that both defends human rights and addresses people’s fears, rather than fuelling them. It also calls for EU leaders to go beyond rhetoric and deliver on their commitments to defend the human rights of men, women and children on the move. “Strength doesn't mean turning away those most in need. Strength is about showing a way forward that upholds values,” the letter reads.

In addition to the catastrophic events of recent days, the Lebanese people have been faced with an economic collapse and increasing scarcity of food, as the country confronts a global pandemic.

Violence is a daily reality for many adolescent girls around the world, largely due to deeply entrenched social norms and practises that perpetuate gender inequality.

Here are four reasons the International Rescue Committee’s Emergency Watchlist ranks Syria third among countries most at risk of humanitarian catastrophe in 2021.