Peace
Featured beneficiary in the PEACE category for first quarter 2010:
Charity Navigator rating: 
Annual budget: $3.5 million
Refugees International advocates for lifesaving assistance and protection for displaced people and promotes solutions to displacement crises.
Challenge
Refugee crises left unattended threaten stability around the world. There are 41.9 million refugees and internally displaced people and 12 million stateless people living in limbo without citizenship rights. People forced from their homes by conflict are among the world’s most vulnerable and they all have individual stories of loss, heartache and survival.
Impact
Timely responses to refugee crises can increase stability in a region before the conflict spreads across borders. Due to our efforts, abandoned refugees receive food, medicine and education; displaced families return home; peacekeepers are sent to protect displaced people from harm; and stateless people obtain legal status.
Reputation
Refugees International was started in 1979 as a citizens’ movement to protect Indochinese refugees. Since then, we have expanded to become the leading advocacy organization that provokes action from global leaders to resolve refugee crises. We do not accept government or UN funding, allowing our advocacy to be fearless and independent. Our expert recommendations are highly valued by the very people whose decisions bring immediate relief and lifesaving solutions to refugees: senior officials of the U.S. Administration, the United Nations, and governments around the world, and members of the U.S. Congress.
Field-Based
Each year, Refugees International conducts 20 to 25 field missions to identify displaced people’s needs for basic services such as food, water, health care, housing, access to education and protection from harm. Based on our field-based knowledge of humanitarian emergencies, we successfully challenge policy makers and aid agencies to improve the lives of displaced people around the world. Where there are needs, we witness what is lacking, we present solutions and we demand action.
LEARN MORE ABOUT REFUGEES INTERNATIONAL
Refugees Int'l Channel on YouTube
Refugees Int'l video (1m)
Refugees Int'l video (6m)
About the selection process
Beginning on January 1, 2010, Foundation Beyond Belief will highlight ten charitable organizations per quarter -- one in each of ten categories. Among other considerations, beneficiaries will be chosen for efficiency, effectiveness, moderate size (annual budget <$10M), compatibility with humanist focus on mutual care of this world and this life, no direct promotion or proselytizing of a particular worldview, and geographical diversity.
The beneficiaries for the first quarter of 2010, including the organization on this page, were selected by the Foundation Board. Active members can help us choose future beneficiaries by researching and nominating charities and (beginning Jan 1) by discussing, debating, and advocating for the causes of their choice through our social network. Final decisions will be made by the Board, but collective member input will be among the most important considerations.
