John},
In the past year, I asked you time and time again to advocate on behalf of refugees, asylum seekers and other people facing forced displacement—and you heard our call.
As we mark this season of gratitude and year-end reflection, I'm thrilled to share the collective impact of our actions this year.
IRC advocates like you have contacted elected officials, on all levels, over 50,000 times this year.
💛 Your actions helped protect people in our own communities.
- Across 29 offices in the U.S., IRC advocates just like you have fought against anti-refugee bills that sought to discriminate against refugees and undermine the authority of local leaders to welcome refugees to their communities.
- We opposed legislation which would have required the sharing of refugees' personal identifying data for surveillance and monitoring.
- The IRC also worked to support policies that worked to codify state commitment to the U.S. Resettlement Program and expand case management for recently resettled refugees.
- Advocates like you took their advocacy offline and joined their state leaders during 🏛️in-person advocacy days🏛️ at state capitols in New York, Kansas and more.
💛 Your actions helped generate calls for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza.
- As the situation deteriorated in Gaza, IRC advocates sent over 33,000 emails and made over 1,300 calls to every single member of Congress asking them to call for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza.
- Thanks in part to your actions, the IRC has continued to scale up our response in Gaza by deploying 11 emergency medical teams over the past year, providing 100,000 liters of clean drinking water and malnutrition support, and providing protection services for women and children in both Gaza and the West Bank.
- The IRC continues to call for an immediate and lasting ceasefire as the only way to protect Palestinian lives, secure the release of the remaining hostages, and safely and adequately scale up humanitarian assistance and service delivery.
💛 Your actions helped to respond to a looming famine declaration in Sudan.
- Over a year of conflict in Sudan has led to a dire humanitarian crisis and Sudan was named as the top country on the IRC's 2025 Emergency Watchlist.
- Extreme levels of food insecurity and malnutrition are affecting over half of the country's population, making Sudan one of the worst food insecurity emergencies in the world.
- In response to the growing risk of famine in Sudan, IRC advocates sent nearly 8,000 emails and made over 900 posts on X to every single U.S. senator and nearly every member of the U.S. House of Representatives asking them to address the growing humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan and to prevent large-scale death from a potential famine.
💛 While progress may seem slow at times, the impact when we achieve our goals is incredible. We cannot thank you enough. 💛
It can be easy to be discouraged by our current political climate, but with advocates like you by our side, the IRC will continue to fight for policies that deliver real change for the people we serve and for all of those in need of protection in the U.S. and across the world.
As we prepare to enter 2025, there's still much more for us to do, and I can't wait to see what more we can achieve together. I am honored to call you one of our advocates.
Warm wishes for a happy holiday season and peaceful new year,
Melinda Frimpong
Digital Advocacy Senior Officer
International Rescue Committee |
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