Women's Refugee Commission E-Newsletter

Welcome to the Women's Refugee Commission's first e-newsletter! We hope you'll enjoy our monthly updates, which will keep you informed about our latest activities, highlights from the field and details on how you can partner with us to improve the well-being and protect the rights of refugee women, children and young people. We'd love to get your feedback on what you'd like to see in these updates, so please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to share your thoughts. And don't forget to visit our website regularly and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for up-to-the-minute news.

Your partnership is essential to ensuring that displaced persons are safe, healthy and self-reliant.

Sarah Costa
Executive Director

Voices of Courage Luncheon

Save the date—this year's Voices of Courage luncheon will be held May 3, 2011, at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City. This year's theme is urban refugees, and we will be honoring Zrinka Bralo and Stella Mkiliwane, two incredible refugee women who are working to improve the lives of those who are displaced or seeking asylum in urban areas. We will also honor Thomson Reuters Foundation for its innovative approach to providing critical information on crises to humanitarian workers, policy makers and other key players in conflicts and natural disasters through AlertNet.org.

We invite you to read more about our honorees and to support the lunch!

Immigrants' Parental Rights in the Spotlight

We have been following closely a case in Missouri of a Guatemalan mother, Encarnación Bail Romero, whose son was adopted by another couple against her will while she was in immigration detention. Last month, the Missouri Supreme Court decided to send the case back to a lower court—delaying justice for Encarnación. Michelle Brané, Director of our Detention and Asylum Program, wrote a blog about the case which was published by the Huffington Post, Daily Kos, Mom's Rising and Breakthrough TV.

You can take action by writing President Obama and asking him to help keep families like Encarnación's together.

Reproductive Health Manual Launch at Commission on the Status of Women

An essential guide for those working in the field, the newly updated Inter-agency Field Manual on Reproductive Health in Humanitarian Settings will be launched in the United States on February 28 at the United Nations as part of the UN Commission on the Status of Women session. The Women's Refugee Commission is a co-host of the launch.

Visit www.iawg.net for more information about the event and to access the manual online.

21 Leaders for the 21^st Century

Women's eNews has selected Michelle Brané, Director of our Detention and Asylum Program, as one of this year's "21 Leaders for the 21^st Century." Michelle is recognized for her work advocating for health care, parental rights, sexual assault prevention and safe housing for undocumented women and children in the United States.

Read more about 21 Leaders for the 21^st Century

New Resources from the Fuel and Firewood Initiative

Safe access to cooking fuel is critical in humanitarian settings. The Women's Refugee Commission recently published a series of fact sheets on the various aspects of humanitarian assistance essential to ensuring displaced people can safely access clean cooking fuel.

In the News

The Kansas City Star published an article quoting Emily Butera, Program Officer, Detention and Asylum Program, on the Encarnación Bail Romero case.

Care2 posted a blog on our livelihoods work, with a link to our video.