Assignment 5

Origin

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is a global humanitarian aid, relief, and development nongovernmental organization. Founded in 1933 per suggestion of Albert Einstien, The International Rescue Committee was originally established as an American Branch of the European International Relief Agency (IRA). “The International Relief Association (IRA) was founded in 1931 in Germany by two left-wing factions, the Communist Party Opposition (KPO) and the Socialist Workers Party (SAP).” Although the IRA was initially intended to provide assistance specifically to those fleeing Nazi Germany, the organization quickly expanded throughout Europe.   In 1940, European exiles and American liberals close to Eleanor Roosevelt, founded the Emergency Rescue Committee (ERC) to aid European refugees trapped in Vichy France. Soon after, the two organizations (IRA & ERC) combined under the name International Relief and Rescue Committee (later to be known as IRC).

History

(A Timeline Provided by the IRC Website)

• 1933: Founded by Albert Einstein to assist Germans suffering under Hitler. Refugees from Mussolini’s Italy and Franco’s Spain are later assisted.
• 1940: ERC formed to aid European refugees trapped in Vichy France.
• 1942: IRA and ERC join forces under the name International Relief and Rescue Committee
• 1945: End of World War II, IRC establishes emergency relief programs and resettlement
• 1950: IRC intensifies aid in Europe with Project Berlin
• 1951: Leo Cherne elected IRC Chairman
• 1954: South Vietnam aid program implemented, resettlement of Indochinese refugees
• 1956: Hungarian resettlement and relief
• 1960: Cuban resettlement and relief
• 1962: Operations extend to Africa
• 1971: Pakistani aid implemented
• 1975: Chilean resettlement and relief
• 1976: Thailand refugee relief
• 1979: Departure of refugees from the Soviet Union, thousands resettled by the IRC
• 1980: Emergency programs launched for Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and Somalia
• 1982: Palestinian and Lebanese refugee assistance
• 1984: Spanish Refugee Aid division founded, serving post-civil war France
• 1987: IRC begins health care program in Poland, response to Mozabican refugees
• 1988: Community rehabilitation activities in Afghanistan
• 1989: Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children founded
• 1991: Health Care program launched in Sudan
• 1992: rehabilitation programs in Bosnia
• 1994: Emergency aid to Rwanda
• 1996: aid extends to Burundi
• 1997: IRC begins operations in Kosovo, United Kingdom office opens
• 1998: Health care ad public health service established in Congo
• 2000: Emergency shelter, sanitation, and education provided to Ingushetia
• 2002: IRC undertakes advocacy compaign to reverse the US Governments slowdown in regufee resettlement
• 2003: IRC responds to war in Iraq
• 2005: Devasting earthquake in Pakistan, and Hurricane Katrina
• 2010: IRC begins to provide aid in Haiti
• 2011: Japanese earthquake and Tsunami
• 2014: Responds to Ebola Virus
• 2015: IRC establishes response teams

“The IRC offers emergency aid and long-term assistance to refugees and those displaced by war, persecution, or natural disaster. The IRC is currently working in over 40 countries and 27 U.S. cities where it resettles refugees and helps them become self-sufficient. It focuses mainly on health, education, economic wellbeing, power, and safety.”

Current Size and Scope

“The IRC offers emergency aid and long-term assistance to refugees and those displaced by war, persecution, or natural disaster. The IRC is currently working in over 40 countries and 27 U.S. cities where it resettles refugees and helps them become self-sufficient. It focuses mainly on health, education, economic wellbeing, power, and safety.” (Miliband)

The organization has founded a 2020 strategic plan, which details their six strategies to strengthening their assistance. The plan also includes an explanation on what the IRC considers to be effective aid, and how they want to see the sector change in coming years.

(The most recently released annual report- 2017, as published on the IRC website)

In 2017, the IRC and its partners:

International Programs:

• Helped nearly 23 million people access primary health care.
• Provided 1.14 million children with schooling and education opportunities.
• Trained 44,670 educators and supported 10,791 schools.
• Trained 21,273 people on child protection, gender-based violence and protection principles and service delivery.
• Provided support through safe spaces to 135,598 children and 116,580 women and girls.
• In 32 countries, 366,500 households benefited from IRC’s economic recovery and development programs and those of its partner organizations.
• Provided cash and asset transfers to 179,491 households of refugees and vulnerable people.
• Helped create or support 16,179 businesses, 73 percent of which were female-owned.
• Provided job-related skills training to more than 39,043 people.

US Programs:

• Helped more than 31,000 refugees, asylees and other immigrants with supportive programs.
• Helped 10,665 refugees and special immigrant visa recipients resettle in the United States.
• Helped 1,146 individuals through the Intensive Case Management program, which provides extended support for the most at-risk refugees including those with medical or mental health issues.
• Across our network of offices in the U.S, more than 5,200 volunteers supported the work of the IRC.
• Screened 670 women across 7 offices for experiences of domestic violence through the Bridge to Safety project.
• Across four IRC offices, we helped 245 cases of unaccompanied children by providing them with education, legal services, mental health support and medical services.

Mission Statement

“The mission of the IRC is to help people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover and gain control of their future.”

Workers

The IRC consists of: first responders, humanitarian relief workers, international development experts, health care providers, and educators.

(IRC Careers)

The current President of the International Rescue Committee is former British Foreign Secretary David Miliband (2013–present).

Funding Sources

As of 2016, the IRC held roughly $175,835,000 in net assets

With funding coming from private and institutional donors. U.S. government funding of the IRC’s programs originates from:

• Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance(OFDA)
• Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration(BPRM)
• S. Agency for International Development(USAID)
• Department of Health and Human Services(HHS)

Spending Priorities

A breakdown of the IRC’s financial report shows that the largest program service investment was in health services, which absorbed 38% of the IRC’s funds for the year 2016.

According to Charity Navigator, the IRC is in the top 1% of the most trustworthy charities, with more than 90₵ of every $1 going to programs and services that directly affect their clientele.

Branding Efforts

The IRC posts all published press releases on their website, videos related to their areas of interests, and scholarly explanations of humanitarian issues around the world. Some examples of their website media:

The company also (uniquely) uses social media as fundraising platforms. Their most successful example of this being Facebook square video ads.

By utilizing Facebook for such, the IRC saw 50% higher return on ad spend, increase in overall donations, and $5.2 million raised from Facebook alone.

Facebook Business details this experience as a success story and explains how they did it:

“International Rescue Committee has had a successful history of raising donations with Facebook ads. For its year-end fundraising campaign, the organization worked with Gott Advertising to expand its strategy and try a new format. The team also partnered with Facebook Creative Shop to learn and create strong square video ads that repurposed assets the IRC already had. For example, the team stitched together multiple photos of people they support into a short 15-second video with text overlay.”

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InternationalRescueCommittee/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/theIRC?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theirc/

External Critiques

While there is much published about the IRC, I struggled to find any critiques. Reviewed by Charity Organizations and Humanitarian Activist groups, the IRC is consistently listed as one of the most trustworthy organizations throughout history.

SEA/GBV

While not much could be found concerning SEA/IRC policies, plenty is published concerning GBV. With an entire section of their website devoted to this topic and GBV facts scattered across every other page, the IRC has blatantly denied any acceptance of gender based violence.

“The IRC tackles root causes of violence against women by working with community groups, local institutions and governments. Our programs help change community attitudes toward women and girls, supporting them to realize their potential and advocate for their rights.”

When accessing any of the organizations social media platforms, you are greeted with a large banner (cover picture) promoting Women’s Rights.

This is an increasingly important part of who the IRC is, and what work they aim to do. More information can be found at their Violence Prevention and Response Resource.

Works Cited:

“Careers.” International Rescue Committee (IRC), www.rescue.org/careers.

Griffin, Tom. “What Is David Miliband’s International Rescue Committee?” Spinwatch, Public Interest, 28 Mar. 2013, spinwatch.org/index.php/blog/item/5483-what-is-david-miliband-s-international-rescue-committee.

“History of the International Rescue Committee.” International Rescue Committee (IRC), 1 Dec. 2018, www.rescue.org/page/history-international-rescue-committee.

“International Rescue Committee Annual Report 2017.” International Rescue Committee (IRC), 5 Dec. 2018, www.rescue.org/resource/international-rescue-committee-annual-report-2017.

“International Rescue Committee.” Facebook Business Review, Facebook, 2019, www.facebook.com/business/success/international-rescue-committee.

“International Rescue Committee.” National Black Theatre Workshop Incorporated – GuideStar Profile, Candid, 2019, www.guidestar.org/profile/13-5660870.

“International Rescue Committee.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 30 Jan. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Rescue_Committee.

“Violence Prevention and Response at the International Rescue Committee.” International Rescue Committee (IRC), 2 June 2017, www.rescue.org/resource/violence-prevention-and-response-international-rescue-committee.

“What We Do.” International Rescue Committee (IRC), www.rescue.org/what-we-do.