Three years ago Ahnaw* collapsed on the floor of her house in a small rural village in eastern Myanmar. When she came to, she realised she was bleeding heavily from what turned out to be a miscarriage. “I didn’t even know I was pregnant,” the 36-year-old recalls, seated in front of a Buddhist shrine in her living room. “They told me when I got to the hospital. They said I was lucky to survive.” As a result of her experience, Ahnaw is now part of an International Rescue Committee programme that trains hundreds of women in Myanmar’s Kayin state to become advocates for birth-spacing and safe pregnancies. These “mother support groups” spread their messages in village gatherings or by going door-to-door, targeting families with many children or young families with children born in quick succession.

The topic of refugees is often misunderstood or misrepresented. Discussions frequently emphasize numbers and statistics, which can overshadow the human stories behind them. Continue reading to discover important facts and figures about refugees, along with the real stories of the people served by the IRC.

With support from the International Rescue Committee, Susan Kayongo is able to run her own salon in Nairobi.

Nearly a quarter of IRC staff members have been forced to flee their homes as a result of airstrikes and bombings in northwest Syria. This IRC staffer, a native of Syria, shares his heartbreaking story, and why, despite all, he stays to help save lives.