more refugees than the past decade. they event in atlanta spoke about the work they do around the world. t's just over an hour. >> thank you so much. thank you for everyone who organized this. i have done my fair share of organizing conferences. know how much work it is. i work for unhcr. i attended high school here in the atlanta area so it is very much a hometown for me so i'm glad to be here with you today. i'm going to be good about our organization, what we do in the field. also give an overview of the areas where unhcr is

operating. apologize in advance for my notes. i have two children under the age of three and i am always sleep deprived. i just want to make sure i don't miss any key points. i was going to start off with unicef jokes. after talking to some of you this morning, it sounds like there is a fair bit of knowledge here about the refugee crises around the world and the work that we do. a little bit about our office here. i work in the regional office, covering the united states and the caribbean. we are largely an advocacy ffice here in the united states.

e work very closely with colleagues from the government of all branches. we do a lot of outreach. my role here is to be responding to inquiries. we work closely with the u.s. congress. there are a lot of staffers on the capitol hill interested in the work we do overseas. my role is to share information about what we do on a daily basis. i get questions about -- i heard that families move from this camp to that camp in south sudan overnight. i've been with unhcr for almost eight years. i have been fortunate enough to travel. nhcr is an emergency organization. you see us mostly in the headlines. yria is mostlying grabbing headlines now.

those are all operations we work on with as much heart about the ones -- as the ones you care about. i work in afghanistan for lmost six months where i did donor relations. i also worked in refugee camps on the border of kenya and somalia. i wanted to share with you the inspiration behind our colleagues. and ever i get a chance to people, i want to make sure i share what it's like to work in the field in the inspiration

that i have an all the people working in the field have. not long ago, i met a syrian r. who recently came back from a clinic in syria. when he was outside the clinic e saw a woman leaning her head against the building or he went to talk to her and asked what are you doing and she said her child was inside. so he went inside, met with the doctors and said the child was fine and stable and he went back outside and said please go home. your child will be home, get some rest. she said tonight before, her husband passed away and she had nowhere else to go. that this was her home. he could not move her from the building. stories like these move myself and all of us working in the refugee field every day. i still think about that woman.

i have kids myself and i know a lot of people working for our organization are haunted by those stories and wake up every single day to make a difference uring even though i wear a suit every day to work, it still makes a difference to hear the human stories and i eel like i can make it different working here and the united states doing advocacy ust as much as somebody in the field. want to share about the

motivation of why we do what we do. i will cover some of the basic definitions. i was on a panel many years ago and i rattled off my presentation and then i completely forgot to cover what an actual refugee was. as refugees, a person who has led for many reasons, mostly because they were persecuted and they had a well founded fear and they fled outside the border of their country. people who flee and stay within the borders of their own country as well. we have a mandate for people that have no nationality, no country to call home, who are often very difficult situations around the world. then the term others of concern, other people who have led for many reasons but also are of concern -- who have fled for many reasons but are also of concern. the refugees in syria would be the people who fled syria tself.

we currently have almost 800,000 registered refugees in the region. the numbers are probably much higher but those are registered with unhcr. our staff is working around-the-clock to accommodate hese people. there is also a big change in the way refugee assistance is being held. back in the day, you would see a camp. everything she would cost the border and see a community welcome then. still a lot of people think about refugees in this setting because it is easy to wrap your mind around and in vision. it is very popular in the media. you have a nice tent camp and you see busloads but a lot of refugees these days live in

abandoned buildings and with host families. there are refugees living in lebanon, jordan, iraq, and other areas and they are absorbed by the host communities. unhcr was founded in 1950 after the second world war. there was massive displacement in europe and the organization was created. when we talk about protection, sometimes i lose people because it is a nebulist term. the assistance part as much easier to imagine. we talk with partners on the ground about what we do. a huge part of unhcr's response is management. providing physical and legal protection for these people. we have a staff of almost 7600

round the world. 75% of the staff are nationals, eaning that we hire people from that country. in d.c., most of our staff is national. so we have an international roster and domestic staff. cannot continue without talking about partnerships that we have with nongovernmental organizations. a lot of them are here in the oom. >> thank you so much. thank you for everyone who

organized this. i have done my fair share of organizing conferences. i know how much work it is. i work for unhcr. i attended high school here in the atlanta area so it is very much a hometown for me so i'm glad to be here with you today. i'm going to be good about our organization, what we do in the field. also give an overview of the it makes us accountable. every year we have to demonstrate to our donors, which be governments organizations, but also individuals. we demonstrate what we did with their money. last year what we did last year and what we plan on doing next year. i hope to say that our agency will strengthen more and more because that means we will not have that many more people to take care of, unfortunately we've been growing. i want to mention other interesting facts but i was running my presentation by anyone and they said anyone can

read off facts, what is something you learned that you cannot read in the paper or something that is ease ya digestable. we have websites and we have facts and figures about everything. i want to cover a little bit about what i have seen and what the life of a refugee is like. i was there about five months. my job every day was to take donors and the media into the camp to show them how we're using their funds. every time i would get a fairly green official from some country to come to the camp and o take a look. they would land on the plane and we would drive through own.

they all said that the i did it not realize that the refugee amp is so close to the airport. lot of the host communities live like they do at the camp. it is very poor. it is in the desert. there's no paved roads, it is xtremely remote. then i take them to our field offices in the camp because that's where it starts. when you roof early in the morning, you get to the field office and you sigh newly arrived refugee -- refugee families sitting in front of the office.

sometimes it is not an office sometimes it is a shed to provide protection if for the sun. families will sit there in the morning. sometimes we have 100 people sitting there or sometimes we have 500-600 people there. we have security officers come out and they look for women who are by themselves, they look for children who are by themselves, minors and we look for vulnerable cases in the crowd. then we hand out numbers and we tell this refugees this is the order we're going to be registering them. the first thing we want to do is give them a registration number and give them a food ration card. we ask them where they came from, what their names are, how many people are in their families. they meet with a colleague. we sit down with them and we take their data. then we also refer them to services. that's where the work of our partners is so key. if they have children, we tell them about the schools, we tell them about the partners, if they are handicapped, so we provide them with services they need. if there's stake in the camp they can get a plot of land and they can build their homes. that give you a sense of what we do in the fields and what

our daily life looks like working with the people. it is hard to cover everything but it give you a sflap shot of what we see and what we do. -- snapshot of what we see and what we do. our staff travels to the camp every day. some work seven days a week. they work from sunrise to sundown. most of the time, if you walk round the compound late at night all of our staff is still working. people are so dedicated and committed. you could never talk about -- i have a hard time talk about the difficult staff conditions, because the life of a refugee is more difficult.

but our staff, not only our staff but the staff of our partners, go through incredible condition to delev the aid that we do every day. it is physical difficulty and emotional. a lot of times our staff hears difficult stories day in and day out, which is very hard. so i'm going to conclude about talking about durable solutions and then after that i will hand it over to our colleagues who will handle the meat of what we do here in the u.s. the voltaire program, which means going home. most refugees want to go home. you do not want to live in a efugee camp. most of the time being hosted

by another family, sometimes four or five other families is difficult in an urban context. your children don't speak the same language, your partner doesn't speak the language where you are. it has a lost of difficulties so most people want to come home. a success story, recently -- if you go to our website, we're talking about the completion of the program. weighen to make sure when efugees go home they go home voluntary. we returned 155,000 people back home. so we're happy about that. we have a populations, tens of thousands of people integrated locally. that is unique. we're extremely grateful for that for the re-enter investigation. a lot of host countries are very welcoming, talking about local integration and absorbing the population into their own

society is differently. the last thing i want to talk about is resettlement. will talk about our role. esettlement means when a refugee comes outside the u.s. we process them and we are an advisory. there is less than 1% of all efugees worldwide. so that is maybe one in 200. there are many more people who are looking for a durable solution in another cub than spaces are available. there are about 180,000 people every year that will not be able to go home and who are not being able -- who cannot stay many the host community or host country. a lot of them are vulnerable ases and people who need a

helping hand. he united states, australia, anada, and other countries are some of the 20 countries that absorb refugees that are being resettlement resettled. we have colleagues in the field that are settle officers. one of the things they take into consideration is if the family qualifies for resettlement. we refer them to country, united states is one of them and then it is up to the discretion of those governments if they allow the refugees to come here. our rule stops at the referral process. i covered the definitions and i talked about what the refugee's life is like. thank you for this opportunity and thank you for being here on a saturday and listening about refugees and we look forward to answering your question, the easy ones. thank you again. [applause]

>> good morning. i'm ellen beattie. he international refugee committee whose mission is to work with people who has been displaced by conflict, ersecution, an disaster. i would like to go back to the history of the organization. it was founded in 1933 after a request of albert einstein. that was the year that it her came to power in germany. albert einstein was looking for a way to get people a way to flee starting then. so the organization was founded to create, sort of something

like an underground railroad for people to flee and has been working ever since for 80 years. ur original work is the work i'm going to talk about, which is bringing people into the u.s. to provide a safe haven. today, the committee is in 42 countries around the world working with our grope and other partners in refugee camps and other camp-like situations nd other urban situations with people displaced. in 22 countries -- excuse me, cities in the united states as well as people displaced by persecution, such as victims of human trafficking. so we've got the overview and it was an outstanding keynote on the whole description of

today. what i want to help you nderstand is the role of the united states in humanity efforts. the united states places an extraordinary role internationally with refugees is a major donor all around the world. i'm sure we'll hear more about that. i want to speak to how we work within the united states with refugees. t is a very important piece of ublic policy in the united tates the refugee resettlement policy. the structure and the shape in the united states is given in this age, i would say through the refugee act of 1980. this is a piece of legislation hat went on to base reform off

of previous immigration reform. ut it is fundamental how things have done for the past 30 years. this was sponsored by senator kennedy and under the carter administration. i would like to think about the circumstances that led up to that act. this was an era that the united states were receiving just thousands upon thousands of people fleeing from the war in the fall of saigon and the wars in southeast asia, street that please primarily and cambodian and others. the united states over a decade involvement in that war, which was devastating to the civilian population. it was one of the most grueling wars to the civilian population in memory. people who had been allied with the united states during that

war, were then not only victimized and had already been displaced from their homes during the war but then fell to the persecution once the country fell to their enemies. this situation was with the investment on the united states brought out every since of humanitarian need to work with these individuals. and the u.s. civil society jumped in and did become involved, all sorts of church groups around the country started to find ways to host families. but it was very informal and id not have a good legal structure and there was, you know, there were veterans who were in favor of this and were

in great need. we became very involved as a nation, has history told us with this. but in that scenario, which was very much handing in 1980 and 199 that led up to it. -- 1979 that led up to it. we tried to come up with a policy. it was public private partnership. we found a way for the u.s. government to work in cooperation with the civil society. with our nonprofit organizations, church groups, to channel the power of the civil society, which is so strong in the u.s. it such a charitable tradition with structure and policy at the governmental policy. the whole program of resettlement demands that the u.s. government works through nonprofit, done -- organizations. refugee is not settled in the

united states without being sponsored by a nonprofit organization that works in cooperation with the state department and other players. that is important to understand. to me, this is a visionary thinking behind this because it would not have the heart and the you said and the compassion if it weren't for the community involvement. what organizations like other committees to is to make the link with the community to welcome people into our communities to provide them with support that goes beyond a check. so wed that foresight to think that way and not try to make it is as it is in other country, especially in western europe more of a burekic. here it is people with heart. omething else is a standard of care. people could come in, not only

southeast asians but others from other conflicts and some might be welcomed into the, you know, best conditions with a whole church behind them where others might be trafficked for labor and abused without their rights recognized. the act establishes norms for what kind of conditions refugees that are settling, also have expectations for support for a short amount of time and early self-sufficiency. it created terms in which between public and private funds will have the same standard of care. it gives them about a six to eight month window to be self-sufficient with standards of housing, standards of support with english, standards of employment support and others. it ensures that everyone gets that same level of attention, which is a very important principle of it. then also regulates access.

before -- it meshes with our international policy and our immigration policies. clearly defining who can access the refugee program and how it will be determined and the establishment of the r.s each year. how does it work? the policy is complex. it involves our u.s. state department who establishes the policy about who will be admitted into the united states as a refugee among with other things. there is an annual president determinations of which groups are of u.s. interest to resettle. this is based on human tear grounds. a large majority who are recognized to be prioritizes

for admission are receive reals a from nhcr and there are others admitted by other means or other receive mechanisms. i wanted to say something that tess spoke about. something i want to be clear about is the resettlement. anyone who has been displaced by their home and would like to return. but if it is not safe and the conditions are not right it is against the geneva conventions that the u.s. and most countries are agreeing with to end them home.

stay many the country where you were displaced to. if you were displaced from syria to turkey stay there. or lebanon or another cub. you're not as far away from ome, hopefully it is safe. but around the world in so many locations that place is not safe. it is not welcoming. you don't have any civil rights and it is not a sustainable solution for your wealth there. the third and last solution is for another country to take you. to be able to be taken out of the unsafe conditions, persecution that may follow you into another country and go to a third. i have to point out a small proportion of those. the total u.s., which senior around 70,000 this year will be equal to the sum of other countries in the number of

individuals that are resettled. the u.s. plays a role in resettlement being a small proposition of the refugees who exist in the world. there are other key players in this. the -- this was established in 1980 and is there to regulate a relationship between the u.s. federal government and the states and to help support during the early stages of esettlement and up to five years and to work in humanitarian support and other humanitarian interests of the united states. this is the connection between the federal government and the state government. it works in anchoring them. once they have been admitted through the state department then to be anchoring them here

in the united states in cooperation with organizations like the i.r.c. third, really important player in the process of admission is the u.s. customs service. hey play a key role in the admissions standards. one thing that our legislation sets out, which is important to understand everyone who is admitted as a refugee has to meet the criteria, which independently is also verified by the united states. we verify they are indeed -- they have fled for persecution and they are in need of resettlement. they can't go home, they can't stay where they are. then we have to make sure they are admissible to the united states on our immigration law, which means they meet all the criteria, we have quite a few criteria who may be admitted and who may not. they have to meet those standards, which included

things like to be free of infectious diseases, most of them have to pass security clearances at a high level. they have to verify their identity they are going have to show if they are related to other refugees. it is a detailed process of review of every single individual who comes to the united states on this status to make sure they are essentially worthy of it. we partner with them as we do as a nation with the c.d.c., the center of disease control who oversees the medical aspects of admissions to the united states. so that infrastructure is a lot. i'm going over it quickly. who then is admitted? this is an important part. with who has been served by dmission and given a chance to

build a new life in the united states. sometimes we have headlines, type of populations that everyone is aware. the people are well-known to individuals. in the aftermath of the war in bosnia, the individuals who ame. more recently those who fled the war in iraq in the past decade. we have, some that rise to awareness such as the lost boys of sudan became well-known across the united states who have undergone tremendous press cushion and escaped as minors. the genocide in another country escaped that horror came to the u.s. we're talking about things that many of you know the devastation behind that. but at the same time, there are many who come from hidden or

sometimes called silent wars. people are less aware of it generally across the united states. victims of more -- less ell-known persecution. we have enormous histories of war in countries like the democratic republic of congresso. we've been speaking now of the -- of congo and we've been speaking now of the healed lines and not the quite ones. we have history, sometimes behind the situations we don't realize. there were a lot of people isplaced from a nation had that has headlines that is known as the highest happy yeavent seen as a -- how did hey get there?

they had the a major ethnic persecution against a large minority and expelled them to become that way. there are quiet ones that are just as much in need. also, people are are looking at people who are victimized ndividually for their status or sexual orientation or their political stance. it serves across all political spectrums of who is the persecutor. it serves major conflict, it serves minor and unknown conflict and gives a gateway into this country, where the individuals who are admitted do access full civil liberties, enter with work status and what is an undefined -- not a permanent residency but

unlimited residentcy and are fast tracked to citizenship. it is a great opportunity for them to be safe. i'll hand it over to paedia mixon there. [applause] >> i'm paedia mixon. i'm the executive director of the r. resettlement and services of atlanta. we're one of six agencies that welcome refugees into georgia. our mission is to welcome, serve, and empower refugees in georgia. our organization resettles somewhere between 450-500 refugees per year. i'm going to talk a little bit about how refugee resettlement ooks at the local level.

i got involved as a family friend volunteer at one of our sister organizations, catholic r. of atlanta. the first refugee family i met was from somalia that was resettled in atlanta. i was a family friend coming into their home to teach english, which i never done before. it was interesting exspeshes. but i spent a year and a half with this family. i had the punt to be with the family as they learn how to navigate the grocery store, one family member got a drivers license. they moved into a home, they got married, had children. t was a really wonderful opportunity to see human resilience and to meet the most rateful, interesting, creative

people that i've ever met in my ife. i'm blessed to continue meeting people like this every single day. i'm going to give you a little bit of the nuts and bolts of how we meet these families, how they get to georgia, and what we do when they get here. then i will talk about an overview of how many rfplgs are coming to -- refugees are oming to georgia and some of the successes and the challenges as well. as much as i can fit into 10 minutes. i will pick up where ellen left off. in the united states there are

10 organizations that contract with the u.s. state department to do resettlements. each of those 10 organizations have a network of affiliates or regionalal offices across the united states. we're affiliates with two of those organizations. basically, once someone has gone through the interview process and has been approved in the initial interview to come to the u.s. as a refugee their biogoes to this network of 10 organizations and each organization has refugees that they are responsible for resettling and they send their bio to an affiliate like us. we get a piece of paper that tells us that how many in the family, what language they speak, if they have serious health problems. we take if we're going to take the case or not take the case, whether it is will be successful in atlanta. we usually always take the case. then we may see the family in a month or a year. after that interview there's an entire process after that that includes health screenings, security screens,. refugees take out a travel loan to fly here. one thing we can say is that

they arrive in this country in debt so they are true americans. [laughter] that can take a long time. we get about a two weeks notice hen their international flight is booked. at that point, we secure an partment, we furnish the apartment, we greet the family at the airport. we make sure over the first few months that their basic needs are met, they have food, they understand how to use the program, they can get around, they know how to be safe, they know where they are, we help to enroll children in schools, we

enroll parents in establish classes. we provide intensive orientation in the first few months. once the family is stable and hey have received their social security card, they have a georgia i.d. and they have basic orientation then we work with them on self-sufficiency. ellen talked about this. this is a self-sufficiency program. refugees come here to have a normal life. they want to be able to support heir families and earn money and have control where they live and how they live. we want to make that process as easy and fast as possible. so we provide extensive employment orientation, all of the six resettlement agencies have employment departments that focuses on getting people placed and giving them the skills and information they

need to keep that job. that's kind of the same across the board for all of us. then each resettlement organization secures additional funding and support from the community, from the faith community, from local foundation, from individuals, to provide longer term services. services like after-schools -- after-school programs. we have after-school programs in every georgia school where refugee children are a substantial population. we have establish language classes to help refugees apply for permanent residents. we have a wide range of programs. we also work closely together, we have a coalition of refugee-serving agencies that meet on a monthly basis so we make sure we're not duplicating services. we try to meet the needs as they arrive. we support one another. that is something unique about georgia. we have a collaboration between service agencies that is not present in other environments so it is a success that we're proud of.

ellen talked about the office f refugee reis thelement and funding -- resettlement and funding. we are actually funded through the u.s. state department and the money comes from our national affiliate organizations. but funding for services after that comes from the state. in georgia, it is the department of human services. they have a refugee unit. we also have a state refugee health coordinator in the department of public health. that funding comes from those

two programs to provide services like long-term employment services, establish as a second language, some funding for after school, funding for longer term case management, some funding for immigration services. so that's where the state government is involved. the state of georgia doesn't actually provide additional funding for refugee programs. some states do and some don't. the funding passes through the state until georgia. so our state refugee coordinator who is responsible for coordinating that program to make sure services are provided and to hand the contracts and that sort of thing. so that is very quick nuts and bolts about how the process so that is very quick nuts and bolts about how the process works in georgia. some of the things we're proud of in georgia, we have -- we are tied with texas for having the early self-sufficiency rate in the country. [applause]

in georgia, 80% of refugees are working and paying their own expenses with wages earned within 180 days of getting off the airplane. that is amazing. as a refugee serving agency would like to take all the credit for that but refugees are ideal clients because they didn't get here, you know, easily. when you talk about less than 1% of refugees being resettled, it is the most resilient people who are able to navigate this process and come here.

so georgia is a wonderful place for refugees buttle refugees are wonderful for georgia as well. they really enrich the environment here. those who do make less than .02%. that is like .004% that go on public benefits and those who do go on public benefits stay on the benefits less than six months. this is a group of people who are motivated to work as soon as possible. other things we're proud of in georgia is that refugees here are starting businesses, they are buying homes, they are going back to school. we have wonderful programs here, our organization has a savings match program. we have match savings for those who want to go to school or buy a home or even start a business. we have organizations who are here today who helped 19 families buy a home in the last year and a half. we helped to start 16 businesses

and we've helped over 20 people go back to school. we also have a new micro enterprise program at i.r.c. to help women start child care businesses, which i think is a very exciting program. 19 families buy a home in the last year and a half. we helped to start 16 businesses and we've helped over 20 people go back to school. we also have a new micro enterprise program at i.r.c. to help women start child care businesses, which i think is a very exciting program. there's a lot of innovation and collaboration here. we have a great record for early self-sufficiency and we're proud of our program here in georgia. there are challenges in georgia.

one of the biggest challenges is the political environment here. i think everyone is aware that georgia is one of those states that passed the antiimmigration legislation. it targets undocumented immigrants, this kind of legislation can be very damaging to those immigrants who come here with legal status as well. our state is also advocated for a reduction in refugee reduction in georgia. we're the sixth largest resettlement site in the u.s. the southeastern united states is a very population refugee settlement sites for a lot of reasons. it is because we have affordable housing here. atlanta is a diverse city so it offers a lot of opportunities for people coming from other countries to find accepting communities. we have a very active faith community that partners with resettlement agencies and helps

to mentor and welcome refugees in georgia. then we have some key industries in georgia that are big employers of refugees or our agriculture, our airport is -- re employer of rfplgs. fugees. there's a lot of remembers why this is one of the largest resettlement sites, really organic reasons that comes from what kind of city we are and what kind of environment we have. our state is advocating for fewer refugees coming to georgia and we're not 100% sure why we're that comes from. that is a challenge.

we think there are a lot of misconceptions about refugees out there and we want to highlight the great successes we've had and help our state government to understand -- to really understand the program and what a long history georgia has in providing humanitarian service to refugees and how successful refugees have been here. so that's a little bit about georgia. at this point -- >> i have a follow-up question. i think you ladies have amazing presentations. [applause] i think you guys -- or you ladies did a wonderful job explaining the institutional resettlement process from the time a refugee is displaced from their home country to being admitted into the united states and then admitted into a particular city, in this case atlanta.

however, there is another form of refugee and that is the ones i work with. i was hoping that you could explain the difference between the group i work with and an refugee. then i would like to open it up for questions from the audience. >> so i would say internationally international law there is no difference but there is in the u.s. law. as we described people who are resettled, invited into the united states due to their need for resettlement and under the policy of resettlement and enter into the united states holding the refugee status. that is a form of visa with work authorize and a series of other privileges.

your group has been given a similar status after -- with a similar status or without. they may have come on a student visa or another form of visa but when they enter the united states they brought forward to the u.s. their need for asylum. they are seeking are fuge. they are fleeing and have asked the united states for asylum or refuge in this country. they maybe granted immediately by -- at the border or upon arrival, they can do it later if something arises in a home country. that is not uncommon. they may be admitted through the immigration service from automatic recognition into that

or their claim may have to go up through an immigration court procedure. but prior to the grants of asylum they are what we call asylum seekers. it is based on international law prior to the grants of asylum. after the grant for all -- most purposes the saying that a refugee but there are small variations with that. i would also mention in similar status we have the people who are in the humanitarian parole that is particular countries that we have certain relations or a history with on humanitarian parole and also, we give protection and a similar status toer is fied victims of human trafficking. does that answer your question?

>> i think you did a great job. so i would like to open the forum up for questions from the audience. we have two microphones on each side of the room. anyone who does have a question, i would invite you now to stand at one of the microphones and we'll try to get through as many questions as we can before we need to move on to the next phase of our program today. if you guys don't have questions, i have made some of my own. >> thank you very much. it has been extremely insightful. given the complexity of the structure, how do you work with other countries? refugees are all over the world and each country has its own unique structuring environment, especially the third option that you were referring to, which is either ensure they go home otherwise they have to integrate

locally really well. or have another country take them so they are actually safe. how do governments work with each other in this context? and i would love to hear your thoughts on that. >> thank you. >> yeah, i think that is between us. settlements specifically or finding solutions? >> both. how does that environment work because politically there are different agendas on why country is focused more on refugees than others. there is a little bit of a complex environment there. >> that is protracted refugee situations a little bit. most of the refugees operations around the world have large situations. a political solution needs to be found for most problems.

we as the humanitarian actors do are not involved in that. we provide assistance and hopefully the governments can come together for the countries that are having the rfplg outflows. this would be the united nations get involved and other european countries and most of them do a lot of negations at the political level. somalia, there's a lot of efforts to stabilize the country. in mali we're hoping to have more and more returns there. many know that the french went into the country to try to stabilize and work with the people on the ground to get them to go home. i think the first thing is to be a political solution, that is what we aim for and what we encourage our executive committee, which is membership of many many, countries from all over the world encourage political solutions.

our high commission is vocal on that front. political issues are number one then we try to make sure we maintain a welcoming environment where the refugees will be long term. unfortunately, there are many refugees in long term situations. we have refugees inside syria. there's still a lot of people who cannot go home. hopefully, as the international communities provides support inside the country with conflicts, afghanistan is another country. it is still the largest refugee population in the world. afghans are all over the world and they are in pakistan and iran. many are in europe as well. we encourage, again, we hope

conditions will be safe for people to go back home. there frankly, is no pretty answer to that question. but again, we are encouraging the countries to come up with political solutions so the refugees can go home. you might want to hit on how it comes into play with other countries. >> from international humanitarian law, the countries that are send to us cannot ask people to return to an unsafe place. unfortunately, for example, afghanistan is a good example. how many many are in pakistan? several million i believe. anybody have that? currently -- it has continued to be for a long time not safe enough to return.

so then the unhcr judge the safety of that. they cannot ask them to return if it is not safe. the conditions in pakistan may deteriorate. it may no longer be safe so then the tchearpgs we need to move people, especially after protected would be the window into that third and least favorite possibility in terms of what is best for them, which is resettlement. then it is the small window of the countries that are willing to take, which is the small freaks of all of that. the opportunity for that is limited and this is based on this is an urgent case. there's a prioration that the group provides to the agency and then the u.s. government prioritizes those to say these are the most urgent ones for now. >> thank you. >> good morning. thanks for the great presentation.

each of you spoke about collaborations. i'm wondering if we can go from the global to local and think about other examples of collaborations with the corporate community or stretching that farther with the academic community and addressing some of these issues? >> at a global level, i will touch on that. we have at our headquarters we have an innovations workshop. we have relationships with a lot of corporate institutions, microsoft, google, many companies come forward and want to help us with innovation. looking at alternatives to our shelter materials, looking at different ways to build sustainable within the community. we work with companies, nonprofits month who want to work on the environment.

refugees a lot of times there's an impact on the local environment and things like that. so we work with companies that are involved in creating sustainability. so from environmental to corporate and the livelihood to make sure the refugees have a way to sustain themselves, bringing in additional funds for the families. all levels, we work on that. we do have a lot of corporations who are interested in partnering with nhcr at our headquarters to make sure we're more efficient, we're more accountable to donors. value and really there's no way to tackle something as complex as refugee without seeking collective impact of many players. so we partner with a multilevel like the unacr and many others

from around the world but also, i underscored before the public/private resettlement program where the committee works closely with private foundations, large and a significant one would be the gates foundation and others to support work towards health and resettlement. those are founded on corporate basis as well. with academics, the solutions of these problems are very complex that john mitchell discussed. so we're working on the best practices for how to indeed, you know, deliver the best services and the most efficient cost- effective man earn and bring about change -- manner that brings about change but allows people to successfully integrate.

all of those are strategies constantly being tried and refined and there's multiple clap ration with academic partners a large one is harvard, the school of public health and the international rescue committee. globally, we've had multiple interacts with emery. there's also great opportunities at the volunteer level of individuals and then direct hands on support like in atlanta. >> we just pulled together data for our annual report. the coalition, which is made up of eight agencies, we compiled our list of partners and it is over 400 faith and civic community partnerships. i know we, amongst our coalition we work with georgia tech, the university of georgia and others we have partners very well with our universities in atlanta.

and then lots of faith and community partners, we do have corporate partners. i think that is a big area for potential growth. i can say for our organization, i would love to have more corporate partners. so that is an area for growth in the future but we do have a lot of strong partnerships in the community. >> we only have time, unfortunately, for one more question. i'm going to go and take yours. but i think you'll be here for a few hours today. so if you get an opportunity and want to ask a question, i'm sure they will be happy to answer it.

rachel if you go ahead. >> a quick question -- there was a touch on statelessness on dealing with a refugees don't have a country to go to or have the documentation to support that. my question is from my organization has seen with haiti. with the earthquake there was a destruction of documents. how do you work with providing documentation that they can resettle or integrate, how is that process facilitated so there is documentation so they can get the documentation they need to be able to do what they need to do? the head of my office would be happy to answer that question because this is his pet projects. but we do have a project in haiti and the doe minutic -- dominican republic.

it is one of the countries in the caribbean affected by statelessness. many of them don't have documentation. we have a project inside haiti where we work with the community and do a huge outreach drive and get people to come forward and register and it provides them with documents. so that is -- i would be happy to talk about it with you more. but that is something we're working on inside haiti and the dominican republic. >> i might add to that, that having documentation is not a requirement to be registered as a refugee. globally, it is protected that you don't need to have that because so often people who have fled war they don't. that does not mean they are necessarily stateless though. not having proof of your citizenship or your state registry is not the same as statelessness. statelessness is a form of

persecution and we work with a number of people who have been victimized by that. i mentioned earlier, the case of the ethnic family. the way they were persecuted is those who were of that ethnicity and had generations born there, they had a legislation that said if you're born in this country, you will no longer have the citizenship. so there are children in the 1980 's were being born without having a country. similarly, we've had ethnic minors -- minorities from russia that were left stateless. that is a form of persecution and lack of civil rights.

so people are admitted to the united states with that condition of persecution. >> ok. i think that's it for this first panel. i think these ladies did an amazing job. a round of applause for them. [applause] >> thanks for the opportunity to be here. i appreciate the invitation. i thoroughly enjoyed the colleagues who presented earlier. of the opening keynote and the panel you just turn. these are

some key partners with us. they helped set the stage. for the cdc fits in as one of the government partners that is responsible for the health component. our program is primarily responsible for the health screening assessment. i will show you interventions that will make a difference. the bottom line at the very beginning --, and that is, like you heard so eloquently from the panel before, there are a lot refugee around resettlement and a lot of stigma associated with immigration and refugees in particular. the myth busting about the andess of integration productivity and contribution and how much the refugees bring to georgia, one i hope you will see that we can best after my presentation is the myth that somehow refugees a really unhealthy and they present an on -- in texas disease and a threat and burden to our communities are you even the title of theession --

unintended consequences. i would make a case that refugees can be among the most healthy people that we are resettling in the united states and into your communities. because of what we are able to do and because of the deliberate process that was brilliantly articulated in the refugee medical act provision of senator kennedy and others. host ofuld be a interventions and secure means to secure their health and safety. the host of interventions. the medical or that the method t metal or for me, waslicated if the work with

carefully chosen. if the ominous scary stuff. consider it part. and is a market of window it is te, separate and that nominateds the one for these price.

lex there are two curves intersecting. it used to be 365 days, or a year. now it is less than 72 hours. in some places you can go to clarkston in a mere day and a half. that is a fundamental game changer. the other thing is the world's population is exploding. he recently passed 6 billion, we are on the way to 7 billion. this is a fundamental game changer. you have high-speed movements and high-volume. speed and volume of international migration is a fundamental game changer in the way we look at the globe and the way we have to approach threats. this is the one way -- major challenges our program takes on.

there is a movie clip i show sometimes. in the interest of time, i will freeze-frame it at the end. it is 24 hours of air travel compressed into one minute. you can sail planes moving around the world of the time . all the planes moving around the world all time, but when you freeze frame, this is the level of global interconnectedness. there is no one in theorld for whom we are disconnected. there are close to 2 billion international arrivals crossing borders every year. this is a remarkable section of humanity and our backyard. local health issues are no longeromething that is in a distant promote camp. it is in your neighborhood. it is in your community i'm backyard. global to local. --h emerging affections

infections popping up constantly, this is the seing. as a reemerging pathogens like tuberculosis are constantly challenging the globe and us. it is a small world after all. modern global mobility contributes to what could emerge in a remote area and quickly become a global threat due to a whole new pathogen. inness the recent pandemic 2009 of h onend one. , the fastesteks moving epidemic in human history. what is it? some of club this -- some have called this the blue marble. e have tried to understand

in three contexts. we fuse all of those components. our health components and todens in order to be able protect communities and contribute to security. in the age of migration -- "the age of migration" a book that i enjoyed. it highlights some of the changes of the migration patterns in the 21stentury. migration on a global scale is enormous. there are millions of people in this category in terms of international migrants by the un definition, people that live outside of their birth country for more than a year. about 200 million or three percent of the world's population are living somewhere other than where they are burnt -- they are born. aternational migrants make big part of our globe.

is modern migratory process not a unilateral place. it is circulatory. it involves a complex journey, variable degrees of reception in the host countries, integration , lots of challenges. frequently returns of migrants they go back at some point. in bosnia, there were a large number of bosnian folks that resettle during that war to the united states ultimately returned. we have to understand this journey is complicated and the factors that happen. the trend is one of ever increasing numbers. this is broken down by region. arey region of the globe experiencing migrants. one third of all of em are living in the less economically developing countries.

it is not just the poor and rich country issue. i will show you a few maps from a website. these are cartogram setter distorted taste on the variable of interest. this is a typical geographic land area map. you can look at world population on a distorted cartogram like this and appreciate where the global disparities are in terms of population size and density. we can do that with immigration -- in the national immigrants. southeast asia andapan are major sources of outflow of migrants. where inflow was greater than outflow is quite telling. north america, western europe and the middle east are currently accounting for 80% of all of that net in over out with united states making up almost

half. we continue to be a receiving nation of incoming populations. it is a contribution and factor of the great strength of our country. where to record use fit in? incoming population are at the tip of that -- about 70,000 or 80,000 a year as determined by a presidential declaration and executed through the state department's program. probably the most honorable at the top of this pyramid, the ones most at risk and in need of intervention. the immigration waves in need are not new. we are approaching an immigration wave. 14.7% of theabout u.s. a population. or 40 almost at 13% now million people.

this is old data. i will show newer stuff. in 2008, the top five countries where the burmese or the iraqis -- sorry, the burmese from the border in thailand and malaysia. -mosaic is about fusing democracy -- demography and help. that we areeciate not a melting pot but we are a music -- a mosaic and every -- an atlanta, we

have a large ethiopian population. , oneng county in seattle of the largest kenyan populations. in houston, a nigerian center. in rural maine, after a migration from minnesota and clarkston, there is an enormous somali population around bates college. there is a story that goes behind each piece of this mosaic that is rich and telling and each has its own challenges. error some pictures of how we can do that. you can see me and and understand your community in a better way by looking at these characteristics. we can look at the vulnerability issues are income distributions or those with low english lauage skills or do not have a diploma.

i would like to share that the paradigm is changing. this is not about immigration screening to exclude people. in 1980gee medical act is based on a humanitarian program designed to admit addressees and bring out the best in that. , from their early beginning sometimes a decade in advance to begin to work in the camps urban centers at the points of origin to both screen and maximize health opportunities. this is the backdrop of the large burden of diseases globally that is disproportionately affecting the world. the top six are shown here -- --piratory a fascist respiratory infections, hiv.

pop up withoutat warnings -- we have this backup of effective diseases that cause a disproportionate amount of morbidity. these are some of the topics -- some of the outbreaks we have dealtith over a three-year. . period.eight three-year in 2011, it is geographically diverse and occurring in areas where lots of emerging threats are happening. a quarter where these

.thnic polys we are working with them outside of kathmandu. burmese largely in thailand along the border, but also malaysia and urban settings. iraq so making up large population. we still have a caseload of some ollie and sudanese and a ethiopian's. a wide mix. some have made headlin, others in silence. by stateee arrivals i are shown here. it has already been mentioned georgia is in the top 10 of the receiving states. we have a rich tradition of hosting these populations in the state. we can begin to look at each individual group. here is the mosaic distribution of the burmese by county. this allows us to match interventions, health

assistance, with counties dealing with life problems. some counties are better resourced and they can be matched up once we understand this mosaic in a clear way. these are the bhutanese resemblance -- bhutanese resettlement. what does mobility offer in rafferty -- and refugee resettlement? interventions in camps in urban centers and transit centers. we carry that on through refugees admitted to this country come into one of our airports that has a u.s. quarantine station they are met by staff and facilitated and assisted in terms of that of domestic responsibility to move into the resettlement communities. this gives us opportunities for work. i will show pictures of some of the programs. in africa, based out of know

moby -- not on the roby. that theer countries cdc teamworks and in africa. in asia, based out of bangkok, we are working from the burmese bordernto nepal. this is a human issue that tohes our soul. here are photos of work from the pediatric ward in the sudanese border. pharmacy and supply room. ande are clinic shots services that are provided. the idea is to intervene at an early phase toaximize the health. ands for their own interest the benefits of their receiving communities. tb screening is a big part of what we do.

there is a lot of epidemiological i cities. -- activities. warfield investigations when there outbreaks of cholera due to heavy rains in a drought of malariaepidemi where rains bring in mosquitoes. is is an example of investing in laboratory structure. dadaab's population can be over 300,000. yet it was neglected to some extent by the national government in terms of infrastructure and laboratory capability. cdc invested heavily in turning the above before pictures into after pictures. interventions. i will wrap up by showing our treatment programs. beginning in 1996, we began to

use drug administration to treat this population for the high burden of diseases. in this case, intestinal parasites malaria and tuberculosis. the global tb distribution is widely skewed and heavily impacted in certain areas. worldwide there is 8 million to 9 million cases every year. a third of the world's population is affected -- infected with tb. and findreen actively every case of tb that can be found in treatment to cure before they are resettled to the united states. this has resulted in a decrease of the importation of tb in .efugees minimum of $30 million annually.

from astro and administration for the disease programs, we we haven getting -- been giving a single dose of a treatment to secure -- to cure malaria. witheat all those cases antimalarial drug before they depart from the camps. this has resulted in the almost disappearance of malaria in the refugee populations. these data are coming from a clinic and minister of a replicated from clinics working with academic centers all across the united states. is malaria treatment estimated to divert 400 serious cases of malaria year. the neglected tropical diseases is high morbidity and things that cause kids to not grow well or reach their

intellectual potential, have anemia and not be able to thrive. the burden is enormous with some of these affections almost a billion infections a year. -- albendazssolved ol can be given. in the burdention of these worms. trying to dispel this myth that somehow the refugees are sick and bringing bad things into our communities. these are the most healthy people coming into the united states in the coldest optimize their ability to be healthy and thrive and immigrate and contribute. the extra benefit is the tremendous cost savings. often doing these types of interventions, it is more cheap to do them in the international setting.

vaccines have been a big challenge for us, and enormous number of preventable outbreaks in refugee populations, in part because the refugees have not been required to have vaccinations prior to arrival as opposed to immigrants. we have been constantly mopping a and battling, such that refugee pregnant woman who got german measles came to the united states and delivered a sick baby for want of a vaccine that was not giving in advance. delivered a baby that cost $1 million a year to care for as a result. we have been moving together with a great park to share -- with some great partnerships. all whole host of preventative vaccination programs that are scheduled to end this chasing outbreak phenomena. there will be a six vaccine schedule that all the refugees will be vaccinated before

arrival so they do not deal with these outbaks, as well as they are able to get into schools. all of this information is only useful if the people in the communities who need it can go to a single place and find it, so we have been launching a website on our cdc website with profiles of each of the large population centers are settling and try too there find one of the priority health conditions, what has been going on in thcampo for they came, what kinds of issues issues come up, how to we share that information. whether it is somali refugees in kenya or the transition to whole new life style in minnesota from the deserts to the shoveling snow, they are the beauty of the faces of diversity that make this cntry stronger and great. it harkens back to that metaphor i like to think about -- the mark should call window piece.

i hope it helps to dispel this myth that there are enormous unintended consequences of being part of this refugee resettlement program. thanks for your attention. .> thank you i was thinking a few minutes ago, this is the second time i have stood here. the last time, i had just aad, and wasm dad working with the refugees. a month ago i had just come back from pakistan. we were working closely with refugees there. .his topic is close to my heart how did i start in the ngo sector?

iu will hear from my accent am from scotland, edinburgh. in 1992, many refugees came from the balkans. i was in the private sector that, a stockbroker. i became a volunteer working with refugees. it was such an experience. these were people who were in concentration camps. many women were victims of rape. they were all ethnicly cleansed, victims of being cleansed. they came from all over the balkans. not just herzegovina. it was a wonderful opportunity. to be working wh these amazing people, brave people, especially

, i went on to driving trucks back to bosnia. helping many refugees return. that is what my life changed. i became an ngo worker. , we we talk about refugees are not just talking about statistics. we are talking about mothers, fathers, children and sisters. they are just like us. we need to keep that in mind when we are talking about this. there have to be services and opportunities to restart the lives. it oen depends on factors beyond their control. people at agencies like we have heard today -- these refugees do not know these people.

it is new to them. on people like ourselves -- they are dependent on people like ourselves. it is new to them, unfamiliar with no familyn or community member nearby. thent to highlight unintended positive consequences. that is why we are here. short-term may be they makeefugees, permanent and positive cultural and social economic contributions. i am going to go back to my experience with the balkan community. ,hen they came into edinburg all of this is new. none of them had traveled.

all of a sudden they came to have bro -- two at merck. we talked in english. scottish, whatever. we made it easy for them to have access to community services. we gave them vocational training. aremany of my friends bosnians. theyave fantastic businesses in edinburgh. the bosnian food is fantastic. we force them to open a restaurant in edinburgh. --is woman the most popular it is one of the most popular restaurants there.

i have been with care for 30 years. i have worked in many emergency situations. there are always refugees. there were refugees there. kenneth believes in creating this win-win sittion for refugees and host countries. refugees do bring skills -- the desire to work hard, the entrepreneurs, and make the most of their new opportunities. they invest financially in their community, shopping locally among working nearby and utilizing a brokered services. i want to be part of the community when they come here. most of them live in small communities and their country and they want to come here with .hat community experience

i am not sure that we have got that in edinburg. ,he kids go to local schools bring new perspectives and ideas that help their classmates broaden their horizons. and they had a beautiful dimon should -- you before they mentioto their learning. communities also benefit through improvements in infrastructure through organizations like irc. it includes transport infrtructure like roads and bridges, health clinics and schools. in an effort to assist refugees and to improve the delivery of humanitarian services. have alsocountries benefited from refugees as a result of agricultural expansion. many of these families that come to our countries have amazing

agricultural experience and we can learn from that. new farming practices. the benefits of the presence of refugees persist even after they ine repatriated or relocated resources such as buildings are still part of the local community. thesecknowledge that relationships are not without their challenges. the international community must work together to effectively andst host countries countries facing fertility and poverty. it should not be forgotten that many host countries are grappling with their own unique challenges. that could include food shortages, political unrest o unstable economies. we have seen a live situation in at the moment.

in two months ago, i was in jordan and we were speaking about how it is affecting georgian -- affecting jordan. jordan currently hosts about 300,000 syrian refugees. of jordan'spercent own population. today the government has not closed its 200 and 30 mile border with syria. estimates that 60,000 refugees arrived. i got this number yesterday from our office in jordan. this is further straining the capacity of established caps. camps.ablished this has created a dramatic increase in rent prices in jordan in urban settings, affecting refugees and jordanians. -- i camp is due to open

with in a month's time- an eventual capacity of 30,000 refugees. that is a lot of pressure on jordan. care isn't looking to work in this. care -- care is looking to work in this camp. -- care jordan has decades of experience working with refugees. we started 65 years ago in 1948 supporting palestinians who sought refugee in jordan. jordan has care suppord iraqi refugees with cash relief items, training and other assistance. ^ jordan knows that building community support -- care

jordan knows that building community support is in aspect. it is instrumental in the isolation -- breaking isolation of refugees and bringing them new security. things are tense in jordan. said wek, king abdullah have reached the end of the line, exhausted our resources. , sinceasy to understand jordanian officials estimate that, dating -- accommodating syrian refugees cost the city $200 million in 2012. in an effort to mitigate teions between host communities and syrian refugees , the jordani government released a policy that 50% of any funding or assistance for syrian refugees must be earmarked to help communities in

jordan. for wilbe a challenge organizations like care when trying to secure funding. expressal, jordanians solidarity and welcoming syrian refugees. we have seen at. i have not heard any conflict incident at the moment. they are welcoming them. there have always been strong links between the two nations -- culture, tourism, intermarriages. this is a complex issue and there are no easy answers. an integral part of the solution, n be more affected -- more effective if accompanied by an integration strategy so that refugees can give as well as receive.

, pay taxes, and contribute to the economy in their new home country. actors involved should sarah not only resources -- should share not only resources but development planning. .here is no onsize-fits-all practical issues arise that will define a response, such as a type of repartee -- of refugee settlement, assistant to populations and customs and habits, their mobility and the legal status. whether they have identification documents, the right to work or access to educatio for countries are ready heavy burdens, posting refugees, i fully understand local

integration without secure assurances of adequate support from international security. integration allows ordinary people displaced by conflict, violence or persecution to find a durable solution to their flight -- to their plight. and to move forward with their lives. by embracing refugees and treating them as a potential asset, host governments could find they are less of a burden and more of an asset. embracing refugees will give them the rights that will go wi the resources they bring and increase the human security of everyone living there. th is the greatest asset of all. ank you. >> we would like to open it up for questions now. if you would make your way to the micrhones, it would be

helpful to us. we would enjoy it if you would introduce yourself and yr organization, but my job is to be the traffic director. we will begin with the microphone on my left. >> thank y very much, both of you. my name is michael. georgia state at university. i am with peace building solutions him a new ngo looking to have our first pilot implementation in southe haiti. while your talk was about unintended consequences for --t communities in accepted excepting refugees, i cannot help it ask about unintended consequences in the field. a book talks about unintended consequences of foreign aid flowing into what was the third- ,argest city in somalia in 1992

creating the only economy of value in the area, attracting crime and explication. -- and exploitation. you have the consequence of foreign aid increasing rates starvation and crime in the area. as someone who is looking to do good work in the field, i was curious what advice you might have for agencies to avoid those sorts of unintended consequences in the field. i have worked in east africa. somalia is one example. it is a situation we try to avoid. we work a lot through local partners. on the to start focusing local skills, local and civil society, especially in somalia.

we are trying to work through local partners. for the sake of our staff, we have to be careful wh safety and security. that is another reason. also, local partners understand the situation. in somalia and many other countries where there is conflict and unrest like pakistan is 100% through partners. that is where we all need to focus. if you are coming into this industry, you might want to think about that. >> that is true. your comments are insightful and it would be naïve of us to not recognize the challenges that large foreign assistance plays in a setting where you have got a country of alum and a natul its chips -- natural interests. some of things that have been affected, developing local partners is one of them.

the other thing that is effective is making sure the infrastructure to support the assistance provided to the tougee countries is extended the local communities of non- refugees and native populations. all of these clinics and services that i talked about that are available and that setting are open to the local community as well. they can attend maternal child health clinics, access these types u services. the uto and a lot of are implementing partners feel strongly about the debility -- the ability to diffuse that so you are not setting up a multi- classed structure. it is difficult and will always be challenging. most of the places that are host to these people are often close to the borders. they are not necessarily in the easiest of areas.

they are also underserved in their own regard. by trying to diffuse that assistance, one of the challenges we areorking in now is a hostile security environment. it used to be if you are under that lou flag of the un agency and doing good humanitarian work, it was a sacrosanct label. now a lot of the workers on my staff are targets of this terrorism and violence. that is a new emerging challenge that we have to figure out how to reconcile. by adjudicating the inadequacies and disparities probably and not setting up more than within the refugee service community is one effort, but it is a real iss and it is hard work and hard to deal with. andt is important for care other agencies to be working with the host governments, such

as the ministry of health, the ministry of education. that is a crucial role in refugees' situations. >> thank you. question on my right. >> i hope this works. i teach economics at the university. i want to thanyou t all referring to the care jordan efforts in dealing with syrian refugees. is there a definition of the final number of syrian refugees? are they getting ready for more people? the you look at jordan, are admitting palestinians, iraqis, syrians -- is there a breaking point for the local economy? what would happen if the jordanian economy stops functioning and cannot support this large number of refugees? does anyone think about the consequences of such events? x the number of refugees --

5000 a day. exactly. the jordanian government has said they're going to open hcrher camp was support of with 30,000 people. it tells you it is on the increase. ere was recently -- i think last week or two weeks ago -- there was a conference around the refugee situation and what funds are the jordanian government going to need. they're going to need something in the range of $1 billion to accommodate the refugee situation in turkey, jordan, and otheneighboring countries.

it is hoped the international community is going to provide these funds, but it has been tremendous pressure on jordan, especially in urban areas. >> one more question. we look around and we see that the situatn has been increasing. the agencies need to grow because the crisis is -- the crises are much more than 20th century. do you think the global economy can continue to support refugee effort >> it is a good question. i do not think i have got the answer. the donor community is giving us funds for jordan. i have to assume there is money out there. to raise money for syria at the moment. toare finding ieasier

respond to the refugee situation, but donors are waiting to find out what is going to happen in syria before they commit to funds. >> i think we have time for one more. >> my name is rosemary. i is a health related question. withre doing great work the refugees while they are out of the country and coming in trying to to prevent -- trying to prevent infectious diseases plaguing those countries, but articles i have read are showing some of those democrats are starting to be affected by some of the public health problems affecting americans, such as obesity. i was interested in finding out, is the cdc or any other programs working on health promotion projects that continue to work with those refugees when they come in because, for cultural reasons, they be some of the men do not go to the clinic tget health screening stunned and some of those people

are found out to have seases and later stages and health education in general? i'm interested in finding out if there initiatives working on that. >> that is a great question. we have, in the last five years, built up the domestic side of our refugee program, and in the last year, have funded grants to 10 states that have large receiving populations and are working closely with refugee resettlement -- the office of refugee resettlement. it does not and. this is continuing upstream. there are a lot of cost effective solution on the disease side. we have been doing screening for some of the major chronic diseases. downstream, there is more to be done, but there are a lot of activities, health education promotion, tapping into programs. one thing is identify the needs at the community level and target best practices. thing working with

refugees is they often fall in this neglected. you see the number of agencies that have to work together to coordinate this process, but it does not become the sole mission of one agency. sometimes it falls lower in the birdie. when you are displacing your infrastructure from your home country and you are in a secondary -- when you are displaced, your infrastructure from your home country is broken and you are in a secondary country. it has been difficult to maintain continuityf health services for refugees after that initial. a federal assistance. we are excited about the implementation of the affordable in january, 20 13 is going to extend the ability for access and coverage for a lot of these services. how that plays out state-by- , but remains to be defined the opportunity is to close that area and offer more preventative services in this country after arrival to a larger group of people.

>> thank you. >> oath of our speakers have enlightened us in many areas --