American Refugee Committee

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The American Refugee Committee (ARC) is a major international non-profit, non-sectarian organization focused on helping refugees and displaced people regain control of their lives. The group was initially founded in 1979 to provide aid to Cambodians on the Thai-Cambodian border. They've since worked throughout Africa and Asia, in places like Iraq and Kosovo. Today, the organization works in eight countries around the world, including the Darfur region of Sudan.

ARC's World Headquarters are currently located in Minneapolis.

1 History
2 Current Projects
3 Awards and Distinctions
4 External links

[edit] History

ARC was founded by Chicago businessman Neal Ball. After sponsoring a refugee from Cambodia and attempting to reunite the refugee's family, Ball became increasingly involved in improving the lives of refugees around the world.

[edit] Current Projects

ARC has several humanitarian programs in Asia and Africa. ARC provides medical care, shelter, protection services, clean water, community development support, and microloans and other opportunities to help refugees take back control of their lives. [1]

In Africa, ARC has programs in Liberia, Sudan, Darfur, Uganda and Rwanda.

In Asia, ARC programs are concentrated in Pakistan, Thailand and Sri Lanka. In Pakistan, ARC recently earned recognition for its significant work in the aftermath of the major earthquakes in Northern Pakistan.[2] ARC also responded to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, providing relief services in Sri Lanka and Indonesia and completing its Fishing Boat Project in Thailand.[3]

[edit] Awards and Distinctions

ARC has been highly rated for the efficiency and effectiveness of their programs, perhaps most notably with a relatively rare A+ rating by Charitywatch.org [4], a charity watchdog site created by the American Institute of Philanthropy to rate non-profits based on the ratio of funds spent on humanitarian aid compared to administrative overhead. Reader's Digest Magazine, Money Magazine, GiveSpot.com, and Charity Navigator also highly rated ARC.