Nasome "Awakening the Dreamer" Facilitators Group

Mission

Refugees International generates lifesaving humanitarian assistance and protection for displaced people around the world and works to end the conditions that create displacement.

The following map depicts the number of refugees and asylum seekers in each region

Advocacy

The characteristics of our effective and efficient organization are independence, flexibility, and the cutting-edge quality of our advocacy. We take an uncompromising rights-based approach to advocacy on behalf of refugees and displaced persons.

Refugees International acts first and foremost as a witness to the suffering of the displaced. Our advocates spend weeks in the field interviewing and meeting with war-affected populations, non-governmental organizations and aid agencies. RI conducted missions in over 20 countries in 2004, some in regions of the world where we have never previously worked. Recent missions have included the Darfur region of Sudan, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Liberia, Haiti, Uganda, Cambodia, and the Thai-Burma border, just to name a few.

RI advocates assess humanitarian problems, identify the most urgent needs and move quickly to develop immediate solutions to those needs. Our contribution to the humanitarian field lies in our unique combination of advocacy and action, both with hands-on expertise in crisis situations and with policymakers in Washington, New York, Geneva and other centers.

Leverage

We can describe the impact of our work with a single word-leverage. RI`s advocacy generates increases in resources and policy changes by governments and UN agencies that improve conditions for refugees and displaced people. RI does not accept any government or UN funding. Rather, RI leverages donations from individuals, foundations and corporations into hundreds of thousands of dollars of lifesaving assistance and protection. This, along with our early warning/early action mandate, allows RI to be a powerful, respected and unfettered voice.