International Rescue Committee history

In 1940, European exiles and American liberals close to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, founded the Emergency Rescue Committee (ERC) to aid European refugees trapped in Vichy France.

In 1942, after the US entered the Second World War, IRA and ERC joined forces under the name International Relief and Rescue Committee, which was later shortened to the International Rescue Committee.

After the defeat of Germany in World War II, for example, the Potsdam Conference of 1945 authorized the transfer of German minorities from a number of European countries, and 12 million Germans were dumped on the truncated territory of Germany, which was split into east and west regions.

With the descent of the Iron Curtain in 1946, the IRC initiated a resettlement program for East European refugees, which continued until the end of the Cold War.

The partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947 resulted in the exchange of 18 million Hindus from Pakistan and Muslims from India—the greatest population transfer in history.

Palestine’s partition in 1948 triggered an almost wholesale exodus of Palestinian Arabs in the wake of a military confrontation between the new state of Israel and neighbouring Arab countries.

When the People’s Republic of China was established in 1949, more than 2 million Chinese fled to Taiwan and to the British crown colony of Hong Kong.

In 1950, the IRC intensified its aid in Europe with Project Berlin, which provided food to the people of East Berlin amid increased Soviet oppression.

In 1960, an IRC resettlement program began for Cuban refugees fleeing the Castro dictatorship and for Haitian refugees escaping the Duvalier regime.

IRC operations were extended to Africa in 1962 when 200,000 Angolans fled to Zaire.

Some 8–10 million persons were also temporarily made refugees by the creation of Bangladesh in 1971.

During the 1982 war in Lebanon, the IRC assisted Palestinian and Lebanese refugees.

Spanish Refugee Aid, which served the survivors of the Spanish Civil War in France, became a division of the IRC in 1984.

Partnering with the Polish trade union movement Solidarity in 1987, the IRC began a health care program in Poland.

In 1989, the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children was established by the IRC as an affiliate organization whose purpose is to serve the rights and interests of the 80% of the world's refugees who are women and children.

CPF merge program Photo: IRC, The IRC began work in the former Yugoslavia in 1992 following the ethnic cleansing carried out by the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

IRC became headquartered in the Chanin Building in midtown Manhattan in 1994.

Also in 1997, the IRC opened a UK office.

The IRC’s Mortality Survey for the Democratic Republic of Congo estimates that 3.9 million people have died in the DRC since the conflict began in 1998, making it the world’s deadliest conflict since World War II.

In 1999, the IRC launched emergency operations in East Timor.

In 2000, the IRC launched emergency shelter, sanitation and education programs for Chechen refugees fleeing fighting between Russian forces and separatist Chechen rebels.

In 2003, IRC programs in West Africa expanded to serve the growing populations of refugees and displaced persons uprooted by civil conflict.

IRC mobile relief teams, with specialists in health, water and sanitation, and child protection, deliver emergency services and supplies to the province of Aceh, Indonesia—the region closest to the epicenter of the devastating December 26, 2004 earthquake and tsunami.

In 2005, around two decades after Burmese refugees first began crossing into Thailand, poverty and violent conflict in Myanmar's ethnic minority areas continue to drive people into camps along the border.

In 2007, the IRC launched a campaign to aid and support displaced Iraqis.

In 2008, the IRC released the fifth in a series of surveys demonstrating the excess loss of life in the Democratic Republic of Congo caused by the nation's long-running civil war.

The Women's Commission became the Women's Refugee Commission in 2009.

Following the Haiti earthquake in January 2010, the IRC deployed its Emergency Response Team to Haiti to deliver help to Port-au-Prince.

David Miliband, former British Foreign Secretary, became the IRC president and CEO in 2013.

When 60,000 unaccompanied children cross the border into the United States from Central America in the summer of 2014, the IRC seeks to find out why and to reunite some of them with relatives in America.

In 2015, according to IRC it trained 15,000 farmers, gave 440,000 babies measles vaccinations, job training to 27,000 people and resettled 10,000 refugees in the United States.

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.

In July 2018, IRC was behind the Welcome Home initiative to give tours and activities for refugees in New York City and Northern California.

Data Analysis,taking a good first step…10 July, 2019 - 08:35