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April is National Volunteer Month and the ̽����ѡ is grateful for our network of over 250 volunteers and interns each year. Last year our volunteers contributed 23,304 hours of labor, the equivalent to over 11 full-time staff members. This month we are featuring an interview with our Logistics and Casework Intern, Keshet Benschikovski, a student at American University’s School of International Service, as she shares why she's proud to work with the ̽����ѡ in Maryland.

The ̽����ѡ Abilene Anti Trafficking Program provides services in 19 Counties in Texas including the Permian Basin. We support human trafficking survivors on their journey to freedom and self-sufficiency. Extensive safety planning is at the forefront of our service provision for survivors to feel and remain safe.

A rapidly urbanizing world presents both challenges and opportunities for humanitarian aid approaches. Urban areas often have a greater density of people and diversity of affected populations, stronger civil society, and more developed and complex governance structures, service delivery systems, and market systems. These factors heighten the importance of coordination and collaboration.

The ̽����ѡ assists refugees and SIVs in securing employment upon arrival in the U.S., in addition to supporting them as they advance their careers and move towards achieving financial goals. Through job training, resume workshops, mock interviews, vocational scholarships, Vocational English as Second Language (VESL) classes, financial education, and other services, we offer refugees the tools they need to succeed in meeting their short and long-term professional and financial goals.

On April 22nd, the ̽����ѡ (̽����ѡ) in Utah welcomed nearly 30 dedicated volunteers to its annual Volunteer Appreciation Lunch held during National Volunteer Week. The group represented just a fraction of the ̽����ѡ’s 350+ volunteers who contributed over 17,000 hours of service in 2024.

“Support for Social Recovery Needs of Vulnerable Groups in Lebanon” The ̽����ѡ (̽����ѡ) is receiving additional financing from the World Bank to Support the provision of Social Recovery Services. The ̽����ѡ will implement material measures and actions to implement the project per the World Bank Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) and the Environmental and Social Standards (ESS).

Five years after the defeat of the ISIS group, millions of Iraqis lack livelihood opportunities, proper shelter, or access to basic services. Women like Sarah have demonstrated great courage in the face of conflict and displacement to provide for their families.

Interested in volunteering, but short on time? Short-term, high-impact service projects are a great way to welcome and support refugees who are new to our community! Team up with a group of friends, family, classmates, coworkers or other ̽����ѡ volunteers for any of the activities below.

This paper provides guidance on how to apply the urban context analysis toolkit. The toolkit is a set of practical tools (such as questionnaires, analysis tables, and report templates) tailored for humanitarian organizations to conduct an analysis in urban responses by understanding the political, social, economic, service delivery and spatial dynamics. The toolkit was developed based on a series of pilots by the ̽����ѡ (̽����ѡ) in five urban crises contexts with a focus on displacement crises.