About Us: Jesuit Refugee Service

The mission of Jesuit Refugee Service/USA is to accompany, serve and advocate for the rights of refugees and other forcibly displaced persons, witnessing to God’s presence in vulnerable and often forgotten people driven from their homes by conflict, natural disaster, economic injustice, or violation of their human rights.

JRS/USA is one of 10 geographic regions of Jesuit Refugee Service, an international Catholic organization sponsored by the Society of Jesus.

In coordination with the JRS International Office in Rome, JRS/USA provides advocacy, financial and human resources for JRS regions throughout the world.

Learn more jrsusa.org

Ecuador

In Esmeraldas, Ecuador to meet with SJR Ecuador staff and visit with refugees who fled the violence of Colombia for refuge in Ecuador.

Produced by Jesuit High School students, theatrical drama sheds light on refugee issues

(Washington, D.C.) January 31, 2012 — Jesuit Refugee Service/USA invites groups at high schools, colleges, universities and parishes to hold full theatrical productions or dramatic readings of the play Imago Dei: Journeys of Courage, Hope & Home. The documentary theater piece was written and produced by the students of Jesuit High School of Sacramento for JRS/USA and is now available for production by other interested groups.

The performances are designed to raise awareness of the refugee experience and refugee issues, as well as to invite communities to take action to accompany, serve, and advocate for the rights of refugees around the world.

Jesuit Refugee Service/USA offers two versions of the script: one designed for a full theatrical production of the play Imago Dei: Journeys of Courage, Hope, & Home; and a second adapted for dramatic readings and small group events. Included with scripts are discussion questions designed to guide group dialogue and reflection after the performance/dramatic reading.

JRS/USA hopes the play will allow audiences to “stand in the shoes” of forcibly displaced people and refugees to gain a deeper understanding of the refugee experience.

U.S. NGOs urge Bonn conference to focus on long-term Afghan needs

WASHINGTON (Dec 5, 2011)— International leaders meeting in Bonn on Monday to discuss the future of Afghanistan should expand their focus from short-term stabilization efforts  to longer term development work that will have a lasting impact on the country.

To date, not enough emphasis has been placed on meeting basic Afghan needs and building a solid foundation for sustainable peace, recovery and inclusive long-term development, said leading U.S.-based international NGOs on Monday.

“It is the 10th anniversary of the first Bonn conference. We hope that governments attending this meeting fully seize the opportunity to do better than they have to date. Much more needs to be done to put Afghanistan on the road to recovery, stability and sustainable development,” said Samuel A. Worthington, president and CEO of InterAction, the biggest alliance of U.S.-based international NGOs.

“Civil society organizations and ordinary Afghans should be placed at the center of these renewed efforts. Their contributions will be critical to a successful transition from war to peace, where the needs of all Afghans, including women, are taken into consideration,” added Worthington.

Congressman Requests Assistance for Iraqi Christians

Congressman Gary Peters Requests Assistance for Iraqi Christians

15 Representatives join Peters, Eshoo, Levin and Dold to protect minorities

(Washington, D.C.) November 29, 2011 — Congressman Gary Peters, an active member of the Religious Minorities in the Middle East Caucus, worked with U.S. Representatives Eshoo, Levin and Dold to seek greater assistance for the ethno-religious minorities of Iraq. Today, they sent a letter signed by a total of 19 Members of Congress seeking funding for increased security and assistance to NGOs in the Nineveh Plains and to Christian Iraqis overall.

The letter was sent to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs in the United States Senate and House of Representatives.

The letter acknowledges that the ethno-religious minorities of Iraq, such as Chaldeans, Assyrians, Syriacs and other communities of faith are struggling to “maintain a foothold in the land they have inhabited for thousands of years.” It further recognizes that the Iraqi Christian population is 50% less than what it was in 2003, and perhaps even lower.

In asking for increased assistance to Iraqi Christians, Congressman Peters and his colleagues write that the “daily persecution has resulted in ongoing exodus that threatens the very survival of these ancient communities. Without significant assistance, Iraqis and members of the Iraqi Diaspora believe complete depopulation is possible within a decade.”

The focus of the letter is for the 2012 State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Bill to include language recognizing the importance of “providing targeted assistance to ethno-religious minorities in Iraq to help ensure their continued survival, especially those living in the Nineveh Plains region.”

Former JRS/USA Outreach Coordinator Joins Ignatian Solidarity Network

Kim Miller

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, OHIO – Kim Miller has joined the staff of the Ignatian Solidarity Network, assuming the role of program director on August 8, 2011.  The Ignatian Solidarity Network (ISN) is a national social justice organization connecting members of Jesuit universities, high schools, parishes, current and former Jesuit volunteers, and many others, committed to working for justice inspired by faith in the tradition of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Kim Miller graduated from Gonzaga University in 2009, earning a Bachelors of Business Administration degree in Marketing and a minor in Broadcast Studies and Electronic Media.  Miller spent the next two years serving in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. During her first year, she worked with teens with developmental disabilities and provided programming and marketing services for STRIVE in South Portland, Maine.  In her second year, Kim served as an outreach coordinator for Jesuit Refugee Service/USA based in Washington, D.C. While at JRS/USA Miller created interactive refugee awareness programs and spoke to campus groups across the country.  In coming to work at ISN, she said this, “I am inspired by the Ignatian family members I meet, and look forward to continuing to empower students and parishioners to promote justice within their local and global communities.”

Foreign aid cuts would damage U.S. interests

WASHINGTON, D.C. July 27, 2011 — House Republican appropriators today continued their assault on U.S. international efforts to reduce poverty, address climate change, and respond to famine and other disasters. This comes a week after the House Foreign Affairs Committee also sought to gut core development accounts.

“These cuts will not only harm U.S. national interests, they will have a huge impact on the lives of those who are already marginalized in the poorest corners of the earth,” said Samuel A. Worthington, president and CEO of InterAction, the largest alliance of U.S.-based international NGOs.

He added: “The argument that a nation with an annual GDP of $14.6 trillion cannot afford to invest a fraction of 1% of that to proactively work to build a safer, more prosperous world, and to fully fund desperately needed humanitarian activity, is simply false.”

Some of the deepest cuts suggested by appropriators today include:

• USAID Operating Expenses slashed  by 27% to $982.5 million (was $1.3 billion in FY11)

• Overall poverty-focused international development and humanitarian assistance cut by 13% to $13.95 billion (was $15.95 billion in FY11)

• Development Assistance cut by 18% to $2.1 billion (was $2.5 billion in FY11)

• International Disaster Assistance: cut by 12% to $758 million (was $863 million in FY11, $1.3 billion in FY10 including emergency funding);

• Contributions to multilateral efforts to combat climate change: Cut to zero from $248 million in FY11, $388 million in FY10.

“With the worst drought in 60 years hitting parts of the Horn of Africa, these cuts amount to the U.S. turning its back on its own strategic interests and walking away from long held international commitments.   For America’s own good and for those around the world who look to the U.S. for leadership, we need to do better,” said Worthington.

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InterAction is the largest alliance of U.S.-based nongovernmental international organizations, with more than 190 members. Our members operate in every developing country, working with local communities to overcome poverty and suffering by helping to improve their quality of life. Visit www.interaction.org

Congress, NGOs: Integrate Development, Environmental Policy

Washington, D.C. (June 15) — U.S. Representatives Russ Carnahan (D-MO) and Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) joined with a former USAID Administrator, a current USAID official and NGO leaders to call for the integration of U.S. international conservation and development policies at an event today on Capitol Hill. The event premiered a new research paper on the subject, titled The Nature of Development.

The new paper, written by InterAction—the largest alliance of U.S.-based international NGOs—concludes that integrating conservation and development policy could create jobs in the United States by increasing the number of exports. It would also improve security by tempering situations in the developing world where food price hikes and other resource shortages are creating full blown conflicts.

“Balancing U.S. global development and environmental policies is a new approach that makes sense. As The Nature of Development illustrates, integration would not place an additional burden on the federal budget, and it would allow us to protect gains in poverty alleviation, food security and other development assistance programs, ensuring that they are sustained over the long-term,” said Samuel A. Worthington, InterAction president and CEO.

Online retreat will mark 30 years of Jesuit Refugee Service

This November 14th we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Jesuit Refugee Service. We recall fondly Father Pedro Arrupe’s sound advice to “pray, pray much” as he encouraged the struggling first generation of JRS team members in Southeast Asia to bring the overwhelming challenges of their new apostolic work to the Lord in prayer.

Three decades later, we once again invite our JRS family — current and former staff members, Jesuits, friends and colleagues—to reflect prayerfully on the ways in which we discover the presence of God in our ministry with refugees and displaced persons.

In honor of our 30^th anniversary, Jesuit Refugee Service/USA is introducing a free 30-day online retreat that links Ignatian Spirituality to the plight of refugees and vulnerable migrants.  It’s an easy way for people to fuse spirituality and social justice into your day .

The retreat will go live on November 1, and will be prominently linked on our home page.

The retreat links the Spiritual Exercises to the plight of refugees and vulnerable migrants and provides an easy way for people to fuse spirituality and social justice into their days.

Visit our new website

(Washington, D.C.) Oct. 1, 2010 – After nearly 12 months of planning and work, Jesuit Refugee Service/USA is happy to announce the launch of our new website. In November 2009, JRS communications leaders from the International office, the U.S. office and the Eastern Africa office began collaborating with Omaha-based Adventure Studios to design and build the website.

This new website is designed to present information in a clear way with easy navigation, while highlighting the accompaniment, service and advocacy JRS undertakes worldwide with and on behalf of refugees and forcibly displaced people.