International Refugee Rights Initiative

IRRI is dedicated to promoting human rights in situations of conflict and displacement, enhancing the protection of vulnerable populations before, during and after conflict. IRRI accomplishes this by:

  • tackling the exclusion and human rights violations which are the root causes of flight;
  • enhancing the protection of the rights of the displaced, and
  • promoting policy solutions which enable those affected by conflict to rebuild sustainable lives and communities.

IRRI grounds it advocacy in regional and international human rights instruments and strives to make these guarantees effective at the local level.

Focusing on Africa, IRRI works with networks of advocates to identify the key challenges facing vulnerable communities and collaborates to advance changes in law, policy and practice. IRRI accomplishes these objectives by developing and implementing innovative legal and advocacy strategies, conducting policy-oriented legal and field- based research and leveraging African regional and sub-regional governance structures. Partnership with networks of civil society and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) across the continent is a hallmark of our work, including through IRRI stewardship and development of the Darfur Consortium. Our dual bases in Kampala and New York position us to act as a bridge between local advocates and the international community, enabling local knowledge to infuse international developments and helping integrate the implications of regional and international policy at work on the ground.

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