asylum seekers

protection program

Ensuring the safety of displaced women, children and youth

What is Protection
for Refugees?

In our work, protection encompasses all activities that allow refugee women, men, girls and boys to enjoy, on equal terms, their rights as dictated by the letter and spirit of humanitarian, human rights and refugee law. Protection also includes physical security and the ability to fully participate in a society and its decision-making processes.

Women and children face many risks to their safety and well-being during times of crisis and displacement. These “protection” risks range from sexual exploitation, domestic violence, lack of access to assistance and services, forced recruitment into armed militias, violence and extreme poverty.  They are often marginalized and therefore their ideas and solutions are neither solicited nor taken seriously, which adds to their vulnerability.  In order to enhance their protection, women, youth and children need to be given opportunities to fully participate in decisions that affect their lives—including those that involve services provided to them and risks confronting them. They must also be involved in devising their own solutions.

The Protection Program seeks to address the systemic protection problems faced by displaced women, children and youth in full partnership with them and to advocate for sustainable change. The program includes a variety of projects geared toward improving the safety and well-being of refugee women, children and youth. They include: