This year, the Women’s Refugee Commission reached a remarkable milestone with our 35th anniversary. While we reflected on our history, we also drove forward several initiatives to protect and empower refugee women and girls. With 2024 nearing its end, we’re featuring four ways we worked to create a better world for refugees.
We shared the stories of women in the grip of the Sudan conflict who are leading the way for change.
In late 2024, we collaborated with the Sudan Family Planning Association and the Gender in Emergencies Group to collect the stories of 24 women whose lives have been altered by the devastating conflict in Sudan. Each of these women bravely shared their experiences that included traumatic events like giving birth while fleeing their home, traveling far in search of water, and losing children, as well as stories of hope like creating a music and dance troupe for children living in camps, opening a school, and visiting shelters to spend time with people and share laughter.
As part of this work, we published a report about the storytelling project and conducted a review of assessments of the Sudan crisis to determine to what extent they reflect the different ways the conflict impacts women, men, girls, and boys.
The stories of Sudanese women’s leadership, innovation, and organizing are seldom heard. We’re working to change that by showcasing their stories through our social media channels.
View our Sudan Voices Highlights on Instagram as we continue to share the voices of Sudanese women into 2025.
WRC helped organizations support adolescent girls affected by crises.
In April, WRC team members joined Fundacion Tiempo de Juego (TdJ), a youth development organization based in Colombia, to implement WRC’s I’m Here approach. I’m Here is used as an entry point to develop more inclusive and holistic programs to serve the needs of adolescent girls and improve their safety, health, and well-being.
WRC and Tiempo de Juego teamed up in Santa Marta to identify existing services, programs, and resources for adolescents. Our team quickly learned of gaps and opportunities for adolescent girls to access services outside of their neighborhoods.
After WRC visited, TdJ conducted a community survey, going door to door to learn more about the unique needs of adolescent girls. They gained new information, including that 80 percent of households experienced food insecurity and 15 percent of girls aged 14 and older cohabitate with a partner. TdJ is now using their work with WRC and the survey results to shape future programming and engagement to better align with the needs of adolescent girls.
In 2025, WRC will our work on the I’m Here approach will continue to ensure adolescent girls around the world stop falling through the cracks in the humanitarian system.
We examined Project 2025 and identified the policy recommendations dangerous to migrant women and girls.
After the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 released its Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise, WRC’s Migrant Rights and Justice team took a look at the agenda. We pinpointed the specific ways Project 2025 is dangerous for migrant women.
Our team offered alternative recommendations to build a humane, orderly, and sustainable migration system. We presented ideas about how communities can welcome migrants and how the federal government can support communities in these efforts.
WRC is committed to monitoring, reporting, and advocacy to identify and mitigate harms to migrant women and girls in the coming years. As President-elect Donald Trump began talking concretely about his immigration plans for day one of his administration, we posted about this plan to dismantle “sensitive zones,” which would allow immigration enforcement officers to enter schools, hospitals, and domestic violence shelters to arrest and detain migrants.
As part of our 35th anniversary, we reflected on WRC’s impact—and looked ahead to our future.
We shared significant moments of our history with supporters like you throughout 2024. This included featuring 35 remarkable people and groups who have been part of WRC’s story—from our founders and artists on The Lantern Tour to recent Voices of Courage honorees Deepti Gurung and Rowida Tariq Elshafee and other people working on behalf of refugee rights we’ve honored throughout the years like Sima Simar and Yusra Mardini.
We also shared our origin story and the ways we’ve advocated for the protection of sexual and reproductive rights.
In 2025, we will continue to highlight and address the specific needs of women and girls. This includes elevating the voices of young refugee leaders across the world through our partnership with the Global Refugee Youth Network, housed at WRC. Refugee youth and their perspectives are essential in conversations about the future for refugees.
As the new year begins, we encourage you to join us and stand in solidarity with refugee women and girls. You can do this by signing up for our email list or following us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Bluesky and sharing our work protecting the rights of displaced women and girls.
Join us in our commitment to the rights and safety of immigrant and refugee women and families around the world.
