Helping Displaced Women, Children and Youth Worldwide
Providing Opportunities for Children and Youth
Millions of displaced and refugee children, particularly girls, don’t have the chance to go to school. Youth have even less access to education. Without school or vocational training, displaced teens sit idle in camps all day long without any constructive activities to fill their time. As is the case anywhere in the world, these youth – with growing frustration and little hope for the future – can become a source of violence and insecurity. Meanwhile, their enormous potential as constructive contributors to their societies goes largely unnoticed and unsupported by the international community. The Children and Adolescents Program works to ensure that displaced children and youth have opportunities to learn and grow so they can contribute to their communities and be able to one day support themselves and their own families.  Read More
 
Ensuring Fair Treatment of Asylum Seekers in the United States
Every year, thousands of asylum seekers are detained by the U.S. government, sometimes until their asylum cases are decided—which can be days, weeks, months or even years. Many of those detained are women and children. Sometimes the children are alone, having left abusive families or other human rights abuses to seek safe haven in the United States. The Detention and Asylum Program works to ensure that these asylum seekers are not held longer than necessary, that they are treated fairly and that their basic rights are respected. The program includes a variety of projects geared toward ensuring that U.S. laws and policies protect women, unaccompanied children and families.  Read More
 
Improving Access to Quality Reproductive Health Services
When refugees and internally displaced persons are uprooted from their homes, their health, including their reproductive health, is severely compromised. They are exposed to violence as they flee and in the camps or communities where they seek safety. Health care is often missing or inadequate. Lack of reproductive health care is a leading cause of death and disease among displaced women of reproductive age. The Reproductive Health Program works to improve services in the four primary areas of reproductive health care: safe motherhood; family planning, including emergency obstetrics; gender-based violence; and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS.  Read More
 
Protecting Displaced Women, Children and Youth
Women and children face many risks to their safety and well-being during times of crisis and displacement. These “protection” risks range from sexual exploitation, domestic violence, lack of access to assistance and services, forced recruitment into armed militias, violence and extreme poverty.  The Protection Program seeks to address the systemic protection problems faced by displaced women, children and youth in full partnership with them and to advocate for sustainable change. The program includes a variety of projects geared toward improving the safety and well-being of refugee women, children and youth.  Read More