Humanitarian organizations call on U.S. to lead response to Iraqi refugee crisis

posted: January 4, 2008

The Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children is a signatory, along with 18 other humanitarian organizations, to a letter to President Bush in advance of his visit to the Middle East, which begins on January 8. The letter calls on the President to lead the international response to the Iraqi refugee crisis and to encourage the Gulf states to contribute desperately needed financial and political support to the countries that are hosting refugees. The letter emphasizes the increasing vulnerability of Iraqi refugee women and children in neighboring countries.

Read more: Humanitarian organizations call on U.S. to lead response to Iraqi refugee crisis

Whole generations of refugees may miss out on the chance of education

posted: January 29, 2008

From Ms. Jenny Perlman Robinson to the Editor of the Financial Times:

Sir, James Fontanella and Tom Burgis have it right: refugees do indeed need lessons for life ("Investing In Young People 2008", Special Report, January 25), and in many refugee settings, education is sorely lacking. While the situation for young children is bad, it is even more dire for older children and adolescents, who have often missed years of schooling. With the majority of refugees being displaced for an average of 17 years, there is a serious risk of whole generations missing out on educational opportunities.

In northern Uganda, many people have lived in squalid camps for almost 20 years, and less than 5 per cent of secondary school-age students attend school. In southern Sudan, where people are returning home after being displaced for more than 20 years, less than 25 per cent of an estimated 2.2m school-age children are enrolled in primary school. The situation is worse for older children. With literacy rates of only 15 per cent, efforts to rebuild the region are severely challenged.

It is vital that the United Nations, western governments, refugee-hosting countries and non-governmental organisations pay increased attention to the educational needs of refugees both while they are displaced and when they return home.

Jenny Perlman Robinson,
Protection Program Officer, Children and Youth,
Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children,
New York, NY 10168, US

Lack of Care in Detention

posted: June 16, 2008

Letter to the Editor by Michelle Brané re "Dying in Detention" (Editorial, June 11): "If the United States is to remain a beacon of freedom and justice, we need to protect the basic human rights of the people entrusted to our care."

The New York Times

We must confront violence against women

posted: June 18, 2008

Op-ed by Senators Joseph Biden (D-Del.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.).

The Hill

Voice of 3.5 million people with disabilities among the world's 35 million displaced people

posted: June 23, 2008

New York

Carolyn Makinson, Executive Director of the Women's Commission, said, "Being uprooted from one's home is an enormous challenge in itself, but refugees with disabilities face even greater hardship and isolation and are all but forgotten by their communities and by the world."

US Nepal Online News

Displaced, disabled, and in need of our care

posted: June 25, 2008

Out of sight, out of mind. There is no better way to characterize the plight of the hundreds of thousands of refugees worldwide - most of them women, children, and the elderly - whose suffering is compounded by physical, sensory, or mental disabilities. There are few groups more neglected and marginalized. Read the op-ed by Amb. Jean Kennedy Smith published in the Boston Globe.

A clear vision for US and Africa

posted: December 12, 2008

An op-ed by Donald Steinberg, deputy president of the International Crisis Group and Board member of the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children. Publiished in The Boston Globe

Making life safer for refugee women

posted: December 13, 2008

The op-ed from Liv Ullmann on firewood has posted to the new “World” section of the Huffington Post.