Few arrive at their destinations with anything but the necessities of life. The International Rescue Committee asked a mother, a child, a teenager, a pharmacist, an artist, and a family of 31 to share the contents of their bags and show us what they managed to hold on to from their homes. Their possessions tell stories about their past and their hopes for the future.

​​​​​​Back to school nerves are common, but refugee and asylum-seeking students can often face extra challenges. The International Rescue Committee's Healing Classrooms programme supports educators to develop inclusive learning spaces where refugee and asylum-seeking students feel safe and welcome. 

As thousands of refugees are stranded or risking their lives trying to transit through Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary in extremely cold weather, the International Rescue Committee and its partners in Serbia are providing winter relief, including clothing, medicine and other emergency aid in some of the most challenging locations.

For the first time ever, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) is putting out a crisis alert to its annual Emergency Watchlist report. The IRC is calling for urgent action in Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya, with specific concern for intensifying famine in Somalia that has been dangerously neglected by the international community. By the time a famine is officially declared later this year, it will be too late to save hundreds of thousands of lives.

Inadequate Water and Sanitation is One of the World’s Leading Killers 2.5 billion people lack improved sanitation facilities, and 768 million people still use unsafe drinking water sources, according to the latest estimates of the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program, released in early 2013 The International Rescue Committee is engaged in Environmental Health (EH) programs in 19 countries across the world.

From major cities to remote villages, women and girls worldwide face harassment, violence, discrimination and a lack of equal opportunities. Their lives are threatened, their potential robbed. This is especially – brutally – true for women and girls in the world’s conflict zones. According to International Rescue Committee violence prevention experts, the toughest places to be a woman today are: