The Women's Refugee Commission is a non-governmental organization based in New York City. It advocates for laws, policies and programs to improve the lives and protect the rights of refugee and internally displaced women, children and young people, including those seeking asylum——bringing about lasting, measurable change.
The Women's Refugee Commission was established in 1989 and is legally part of the International Rescue Committee (IRC). The Women's Refugee Commission receives no direct financial support from the IRC.
Through research and fact-finding field missions, the organization identifies critical problems that affect displaced women, children and young people, including gaps in lifesaving reproductive health care, lack of dignified livelihoods for refugees and, in the U.S., the treatment of asylum-seekers. The Women's Refugee Commission documents best practices and proposes solutions, and develops innovative tools to improve the way humanitarian assistance is delivered in refugee settings. On Capitol Hill, at the United Nations and with humanitarian organizations, governments and donors, the organization pushes for improvements in refugee policy and practice until measurable long-term change is realized. The Women’s Refugee Commission advocates for: