A Commitment to Impact

Laudato sì Challenge
Nov 5 · 4 min read

How the International Rescue Committee is Helping Those Fleeing Crisis and Conflict.

“Hope is a light in the darkness.”

— Desmond Tutu

Taking up the challenges of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato sì, The Laudato sì Challenge — now in its third year — seeks to address forced displacement by empowering one million families by 2021, supporting the vision of the Sustainable Development Goals “as a human dignity narrative, that leaves no one behind.”

We have upgraded our model over the years. Now, we pursue our mission primarily through a series of new, specific, measurable and accountable “Commitments to Impact,” which leverage new resources through cross-sector partnerships — specifically among the public, private and faith sectors — combining efforts to expand their impact.

While our focus is on preventing forced displacement, we acknowledge — as His Eminence Cardinal Turkson says — the “two faces of the issue”: people’s original homes and their “new homes. There are more people than ever on the run, and they need, and deserve, help. This is not an “us and them” issue. These are our brothers and sisters in our global human family.

Speaking of family, one of our new partners is the International Rescue Committee. Founded by Albert Einstein, the IRC is “a global humanitarian aid, relief and development nongovernmental organization that responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover and gain control of their future. In more than 40 countries and in 26 U.S. cities, the IRC’s dedicated teams provide clean water, shelter, health care, education and empowerment support to refugees and displaced people, providing emergency aid and long-term assistance to refugees and those displaced by war, persecution, or natural disaster.”

International Rescue Committee President & CEO, Mr. David Miliband

I had the great honor of interviewing David Miliband, President & CEO of the International Rescue Committee, who made the following Commitment to Impact:

“With the support of The Church and The Laudato sì Challenge ecosystem and a $5M pledge, THE INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE commits to reaching at least 500,000 displaced and asylum-seekers seeking safety, an understanding of their rights and access to life-saving and life-sustaining services from the Northern Triangle (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras), through Mexico and inside the United States over three years.”

— David Miliband, President & CEO, the International Rescue Committee

This is a stellar Commitment to Impact, because it is new, specific, measurable and accountable.

No organization in the world does better, more impactful work on the crisis of forced displacement than the International Rescue Committee.

But, why should we care about forced displacement — and why should we stand in solidarity with the IRC to fulfill its Commitment to Impact? For many of us, this crisis is a world away, which can make it expedient to ignore. But, we mustn’t. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” If we tolerate this humanitarian injustice, we compromise our own humanity.

Take a moment to imagine being forced from your home, through no fault of your own. Imagine arriving in a new and strange place and how vulnerable and threatened you would feel. Where would you go? How would you protect your family? Who would you trust?

When we support the The International Rescue Committee’s Commitment to Impact, we support their efforts to expand their innovative and effective program called Signpost, a “portfolio of digital tools that provide accurate, accessible and timely information that matters most to people affected by conflict and disaster.” Signpost is hope. It truly is: “a light in the darkness.”

IRC’s vision for Signpost is “that all people fleeing crisis and conflict have the information they need to be safe, access vital services, and rebuild their lives.”

Now, it’s incumbent on the Laudato sì Challenge community to come together and raise the $5 million it will take to help The International Rescue Committee fulfill this Commitment to Impact — so that we may set a new standard of addressing this crisis and build a world “that leaves no one behind.”

Eric Harr is Co-Founder & CEO of The Laudato sì Challenge. Now in its third year, The Laudato sì Challenge seeks to address forced displacement by empowering one million families by 2021, supporting the vision of the Sustainable Development Goals “as a human dignity narrative, that leaves no one behind.” To learn more, visit: http://lsc19.org.

Laudato sì Challenge

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The 2019 Laudato sì Challenge addresses forced displacement by empowering one million vulnerable people to be the “protagonist in their own solution” by 2021.

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