Durable Solutions for Displaced Persons (DSDP)
 Church World Service staff outside the
Khaki Basic Health Unit, serving Afghan refugees in Pakistan.
Photo: Mohamad Arshad |
CWS Immigration and Refugee Program
Attn: Durable Solutions for Displaced Persons
Suite 700, 475 Riverside Drive
New York, NY 10115
Phone: (212) 870-3300
Fax: (212) 870-2132
There are nearly 14 million refugees worldwide, according to World Refugee Survey 2007, and 21 million people internally displaced within their own countries. Especially vulnerable among them are the almost nine million who have spent five years or more “warehoused” in camps or segregated settlements. They typically are unable to work or study. Despair and apathy are common and take their toll on mental and physical health. Some “long-stayers,” especially the young ones, become recruitment targets for paramilitary groups, gangs, and drug traffickers. For many, the second or even third generation knows no life outside the camp. What a tragic waste of human potential!
Through its program Durable Solutions for Displaced Persons, Church World Service is helping refugees move beyond mere subsistence. The program is rooted in CWS’s recognition of refugees’ right to live free, dignified, and productive lives and to realize their potential, whether they stay in the country of first asylum, eventually return home, or permanently resettle elsewhere.
Current projects include:
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health care and health education among Afghan refugees in Pakistan and returnees to Afghanistan. Read more »
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access to information and information dissemination in refugee camps in Tanzania and Kenya, a partnership with FilmAid International.
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food security and shelter for Afghan returnees and for refugees from Burma in camps along the Thailand-Burma border. Read more »
DSDP's newest initiative:
- a project to ensure Colombian and other refugees' successful integration into Chilean society through integration and assistance and community outreach, including co-sponsorship opportunities for churches. Read more »
Advocacy with the U.S. government, the United Nations, and the international community on behalf of forcibly displaced persons undergirds DSDP's work. Read more »
Flyer/Congregational Bulletin Insert: Durable Solutions
for Displaced People
PDF (293K) • Microsoft
Word
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