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Annual Report Where We Worked in 2009 Our Mission ING TH AT IR R T B Y E Y L E E A C 1979 R 2009 S 1 97 9 – 2009 2009 annual report where we worked in 2009 our mission 15.2 million refugees refugees international advocates for lifesaving 26 million internally displaced assistance and protection for displaced people and promotes solutions to displacement crises. 12 million stateless Afghanistan Refugees International is the leading advocacy organi- Burma Chad zation on refugee crises around the world. RI saves Colombia lives by compelling the world’s leaders to provide clean Cyprus water, food, health care and other basic assistance to contents Democratic Republic of the Congo people uprooted by conflict. Our success is based on a Ecuador Our Mission .......................1 simple formula: we witness refugees’ needs, we promote France Letter to our Supporters ... 2 solutions to decision makers and we demand action. Germany Refugee Story .................... 3 India Regions.............................. 4 Indonesia Issues ...............................12 Iraq Outreach & Education ....20 Jordan Financial Statements ...... 22 Kenya Invest in RI ...................... 24 Kuwait Donors .......................Insert Pakistan Somalia Sudan Cover Photo: Children who fled Switzerland Top: Advocate Patrick Duplat interviews a Somali man in a military offensive in Pakistan Syria Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya. play in a camp for the internally Middle: Congressional Advocate Renata Rendón (2nd from displaced in Lower Dir district. Thailand right) meets with Pakistani women from a community Credit: Reuters United Kingdom United States hosting Afghan refugees. Venezuela Bottom: Advocate Jennifer Smith gathers information from G THIRT IN Y T Y a UN peacekeeper in DR Congo. A E (24 countries) R A B R E S L E C 9 RI sparks world attention to the RI publicizes atrocities, including 1 00 979 – 2 plight of Kurds fleeing Saddam mutilations, committed by rebel 2006—2009 RI publicizes the world’s Hussein and helps stimulate an forces in Sierra Leone and stimu- fastest growing refugee crisis – the exo- unprecedented U.S. response. lates international attention for a dus of two million Iraqi refugees. The nearly forgotten conflict. U.S. increases funding for Iraqi refugees from $47 million to $398 million. 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 As Darfur refugees flee the After ethnic conflict sparks a emerging genocide, RI Sue Morton founds Refugees International genocide of 800,000 Rwandans, successfully urges agencies and urges world leaders to protect Indochi- RI successfully calls for increased to increase assistance to nese refugees. President Carter doubles the aid for the nearly 2 million refu- hundreds of thousands number of refugees allowed into the U.S. gees who lack basic assistance. more people in Chad. 1 ING TH letter T IR refugee story A R T B Y E Y L E E A C R Refugees International faced a number of chal- S Florence is forty years old and the lenges in 2009, but an organization’s strength is mother of seven. She fled her home in 1 97 often most apparent in the face of adversity. RI 9 – 2009 the Democratic Republic of the Congo was truly tested in our 30th anniversary year, as we (DRC) when rebels attacked her village, battled a tough fundraising climate and cancer took the life of Ken Bacon, burning down all of the houses and our leader and inspiration for eight years. killing villagers. Florence’s husband and two of her children died in the violence. It took her Despite these hardships, RI raised more money than ever before, four days to walk to safety through the forest with her other enabling us to continue and expand our work to improve the lives of five children. Florence is now living with a host family, displaced and stateless people. Thanks to Ken’s tremendous vision and where twenty people sleep on the floor together in a small generosity, RI launched the Ken and Darcy Bacon Center for the Study of room. Florence struggles to find enough food for her family Climate Displacement. The Center will work to establish strong poli- because assistance has not yet arrived; she lost everything cies for the tens of millions of people expected to be displaced by climate she owned when she fled. change in the coming decades. While Florence escaped the attack on her village, she RI shines a spotlight on the plight of people forced to flee their homes continues to feel unsafe. She is one of the more than two during crises, and we demand that governments and international million Congolese who are currently displaced due to the Dan Glickman agencies respond to their critical need for food, water, shelter and safety. conflict in eastern DRC that has raged for over a decade, President Just weeks after the Pakistani government launched military operations and the threat of violence is constant. The one thing stand- against Taliban insurgents, RI advocates were there to witness the ing between the precarious security situation of people like suffering of people uprooted by the government’s actions. Our subse- Florence and preying men with guns is the United Nations quent meetings with leaders in Congress and the administration helped Mission in the DRC (MONUC). Refugees International lead to U.S. support for millions of newly displaced Pakistanis. has been a leader in advocating for more resources for Our team in Sudan observed rising tensions in the south and the fragility this peacekeeping force in order to improve the protection of the relative peace following 22 years of civil war. Highlighting this of Congolese people. Reports from RI field missions and threat in the media and in meetings with top officials, RI helped per- advocacy has resulted in greater resources and political suade the Obama administration to revise its Sudan policy and prioritize support from the U.S. to help MONUC fulfill its protection implementation of the peace agreement. And because of our advocacy on mandate. Burma, Congress committed nearly $40 million in humanitarian funding Florence remains displaced, but if there is peace again, she to the troubled nation, an increase from only $3 million previously. wants to return to her home and rebuild. “We are farmers,” Farooq Kathwari Refugees International demonstrated great fortitude in 2009. We also she said. “We have our fields and will be able to grow our Chair brought on a new president who is already leveraging years of public own food, and start our lives once again.” service, including eighteen years in Congress, to lead us forward. For her personal safety, Florence’s real name and image are Together with our talented staff and committed individuals like you, we not used in this story. will build on our strength and determination to amplify our voice for the world’s most vulnerable. Thank you for your support. Right: RI visited a small village in DRC’s South Kivu, where advocate Camilla Olson interviewed displaced men, women and children who, like Florence, long for a safe return to their homes. 2 33 pakistan In April 2009, the Pakistani support for displaced Pakistanis. They met our impact government launched directly with Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. ➤ The U.S. provided $276 million military operations against Special Representative for Afghanistan and in humanitarian aid to support Taliban insurgents, provok- Pakistan, who dispatched an emergency people displaced by the conflict. ing the largest and fastest forced team to quickly disburse funds. RI President ➤ The UN Office for the Coordi- displacement since the Rwandan Ken Bacon also testified to a congressional nation of Humanitarian Affairs genocide. At the peak of the crisis, three subcommittee urging the U.S. to fund created a special fund to dis- million people were displaced. immediate relief rather than focusing on burse grants to local Pakistani large-scale reconstruction. Within weeks, Refugees International staff aid organizations. traveled to Pakistan and found that displaced Our team returned to Islamabad in October and ➤ The UN appointed a Special people were facing enormous needs for shelter, found that displaced people were being denied Envoy to help the Pakistani food and protection from further violence. aid and facing discrimination by the Govern- government and aid agencies Since 2008, RI had been the lead organiza- ment of Pakistan. RI successfully influenced better assist displaced people. tion urging increased humanitarian aid to the humanitarian response so that agencies Pakistan and we strengthened our call. Our better met the critical needs of these people. staff briefed the House Foreign Affairs A policeman searches through the wreck- Below: Displaced Pakistanis stand with a local family age after the deadly bombing of the Pearl Committee and worked with the Committee who is hosting them inside their compound in Continental Hotel. (Credit: Reuters) Chairman to craft legislation that included Mardan. (Credit: Reuters) REGIONS in the field In June, Refugees International advocates Patrick and Kristèle have spent nine months Patrick Duplat and Kristèle Younès traveled to working on Pakistan and know the key people Pakistan to analyze the massive displacement to reach out to. Many are now staying in crisis and influence the agencies that were Islamabad in the aftermath of the bombing. assisting some three million people. The RI team arranges numerous meetings and learns that additional funding is urgently After a few days of meetings in Islamabad, they needed to assist and protect displaced people. prepare to leave for Peshawar. The night before They also hear that the UN needs to reach out their departure, Patrick receives a text message: to the Pakistani government to ensure that aid “Major bombing @ Pearl Continental hotel.” agencies can operate independently and reach He turns on the TV in his hotel room and an those most in need.
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