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2008 Achievements

The Women's Refugee Commission in Action

To keep refugee women and children safe:

• We spearheaded an international search with the UN and other humanitarian partners to find safer and sustainable alternatives to firewood. In December we hosted the first-ever international conference to bring together the developers, users and funders of new cooking technologies.
• Our 2007 report, Locking Up Family Values: The Detention of Immigrant Families, resulted in significant improvements in 2008 at the largest U.S. family detention center. We recently released a groundbreaking report on the situation and conditions of unaccompanied immigrant children held in U.S. detention.

To ensure that refugee women and children are healthy:

• We visited Kenya in April in the wake of the post-election violence and advocated that women displaced by violence must receive life-saving reproductive health services, including emergency obstetric care and care for survivors of rape.
• With partner organizations, we advocated to governments, United Nations agencies and U.S.-based foundations for improved reproductive health policies and increased global funding.

To help refugee women and youth become self-reliant:

• We released the first global study on problems faced by refugees with physical and mental disabilities, based on six months of research and field studies in five countries. A companion resource kit guides on-the-ground workers to promote access to services for those in need.
• We partnered with Columbia University’s School for International and Public Affairs to improve vocational training programs for youth in northern Uganda. We jointly developed two sets of tools: one to ensure that vocational training programs are linked to market needs; the other to enable young people to conduct their own market assessments.

To learn more about our plans for 2009—OUR 20th ANNIVERSARY YEAR—go to our 2009 Action Agenda.