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Emergency Relief
Concerns
International emergency relief – water, food, shelter, clothing and health care – is essential to the survival of millions of people who have fled their homes because of violence or natural disaster. But aid agencies are over-burdened and under-funded. They are regularly forced to choose between lifesaving programs such as vaccinating infants from disease or providing school feeding programs for hungry children. The persistent failure of donor governments to provide adequate funding for relief efforts is the most critical flaw in the humanitarian aid process today.
Through our missions around the world, Refugees International assesses the vital needs of the most vulnerable people. We discover who is falling through the cracks and press governments and the UN to act to save lives. From recently displaced people who have not yet received assistance to refugee communities facing food shortages due to droughts or damaged crops, we work to ensure that UN agencies and non-governmental organizations act urgently to ameliorate human suffering.
Accomplishments
From Chad to Cambodia, Refugees International has discovered populations of refugees who were in dire need of food or supplies and has successfully pressed agencies to act. Here are a few of our accomplishments:
- When Refugees International traveled to the border of Liberia and Côte D'Ivoire in December 2004, we learned that 6,000 refugees had received no food for six weeks and were showing signs of starvation. After RI contacted the UN agencies involved and alerted the media, food was delivered within a month.
- On arrival in Chad, we discovered that relief agencies were vastly underestimating the numbers of refugees from Darfur and therefore distributing too little food and supplies. RI successfully urged the UN and aid agencies to revise their figure and to distribute food within weeks of our findings.
What You Can Do
- Sign Up for our bimonthly E-Updates to learn more about the issues affecting refugee women.
- Donate to Refugees International so we can ensure that international agencies provide food, water and other lifesaving emergency assistance for displaced people.
Related Policy Recommendations
05/07/2008 Burma: Opportunity Amid the Destruction
03/17/2008 Iraqi Refugees: Improve UN Outreach in Syria
All related Policy Recommendations
Related News
05/05/2008 Release: U.S. Should Offer Aid to Help Cyclone Victims in Burma (Press Release)
03/17/2008 Release: 5th Anniversary Marks Continuing Struggles for Iraqi Refugees (Press Release)
Related Publications
03/22/2007 Iraq: The World's Fastest Growing Displacement Crisis
11/01/2006 NGO Impact Initiative Assessment of Tsunami Response
Related Missions
02/05/2008 Iraqi Refugees: Mission to Assess Latest Situation for Displaced
06/12/2007 New mission to follow up on Iraqi displacement crisis
Related Images
Visual Mission: Displaced in Lebanon Living in a Parking Garage
Visual Mission: Burmese Rohingya Refugees in Makeshift Camp in Bangladesh
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Photo Gallery
ViewBurundi 2004- Sleeping Center for Returning Refugees
Returning refugees spend a night or two in this center sleeping on the ground before they are transported to their various communes of origin.
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