Community-Based Refugee Organizations

Organization: International Rescue Committee (IRC)
Team: Danielle Rosario-Mullen, Kim Hafner
Supervisor: Mark Johnson
Semester: Fall 2006

Pilot Project: Refugee Organizational Capacity, Links and Exchange

Refugees who resettle in the United States often maintain strong links to their home countries and with fellow refugees in their local communities throughout the U.S. Students will be tasked to assist the IRC to better understand those links and opportunities by helping implement a year-long pilot exchange program.

The pilot project will explore the collaborations and networks that exist between refugee grassroots organizations here and organizing efforts in their home country's local communities. Students will work with three organizations in the U.S., helping assess their organizational capacity and links to their country of origin. Students will also work with IRC's Resettlement and

International Programs departments to understand capacity building program issues and how organizational and community development links can be made between U.S. and overseas organizations. The pilot project should support the IRC program framework in the areas of good governance, civil society strengthening, and community development.  

Research for students:

  • Organizational development work with three refugee-run organizations:
  • o Are the three previously-identified organizations the most capable?
  • o What services do these organizations provide to resettled refugees?
  • o Are these organizations sound and well-established in their community?
  • o Do these organizations also have initiatives that support their home country?
  • o What can a collaboration with their home country contribute to the development of the home country, and the IRC?
  • Conduct preparatory work for visit to IRC overseas programs:
  • o Help identify potential for strengthening networks that exist between resettled refugees and their home country.
  • o Help identify specific activities that can be undertaken during overseas visit.
  • o In coordination with IRC International Programs Dept staff, develop a terms of reference (TOR) for visits of U.S. based refugee organizations to country of origin.
  • Work with refugee organizations and IRC overseas country office staff to draft outline of a trip report prior to trips, and draft and finalize reports after trips.

Populations selected by IRC for this project:
  • o Sierra Leoneans (specifically groups/individuals from the Kono province)
  • o Southern Sudanese
  • o Congolese

Work Methodology:
  • Teleconference calls
  • Skype with overseas country offices
  • Electronic exchanges
  • Face-to-face meetings (local individuals/organizations only)

Final products for IRC:
  • Work with refugee organizations to draft outline of a trip report before the trips, and to draft and finalize report after the trips
  • Work with refugee organization to organize presentation of the trip results to refugee community
  • Presentation to IRC headquarters staff (December 2006)

Core Documents


Terms of Reference
Timeline
Final Presentation

Additional Documents


2006 Fall - IRC - Refugee Community-based Organizations.pdf

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