David Miliband and business CEOs call on the private sector to innovate and invest in solutions to the unprecedented global refugee crisis.

Written by David Milliband, President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee.?

On this year’s World Refugee Day, the world has reached a historic milestone: 100 million people displaced worldwide, the largest number since World War II.?

This figure has grown dramatically in the wake of major crises like the war in Ukraine. While the suffering in Ukraine is abhorrent, it is not abnormal. Its 14 million displaced persons represent less than 20% of the global displaced population, now equal to the populations of Canada and the UK combined.?

Beyond demanding global reflection, World Refugee Day demands global action. Without it, 100 million displaced is simply the prelude to higher and higher numbers - and unimaginable human suffering.?

The private sector has an extremely important role to play in reversing the tide of crisis, displacement and impunity. That’s why on this World Refugee Day, I’m proud to join CEOs from IRC partners - Airbnb.org, Citi, Duolingo, Impossible Foods, Tripadvisor, and Uber - in calling to action other business leaders to leverage their resources, expertise, and their employees to create solutions to this unprecedented global challenge.?

At the IRC we have fully embraced the leadership role that businesses and NGOs can play as partners in tackling the refugee crisis. We understand that effective philanthropy partnerships these days are not one-off transactions - but multi-faceted collaborations that leverage in-kind support, shared skills, personnel, rigorous evidence collection, impact reporting, and breakthrough program design. All of this is founded on shared ideals: refugees bring more than they carry. They enrich our lives, our livelihoods, and those of generations to come. They are good for business - and much, much more.?

The IRC, Airbnb.org, Citi, Duolingo, Impossible Foods, Tripadvisor, and Uber call upon the private sector to increase its investment in tackling the global refugee crisis, helping make this World Refugee Day a turning point in the campaign for dignity for the world’s displaced. Here are just a few ways to do so:

• Help provide flexible and long-term funding that allow NGOs like the IRC to create new approaches to program design beyond one-off responses - helping support our clients over the course of years.
• CEOs can and should use their voice and platforms to remind elected officials and the public that refugees enrich our lives and our communities - and to step up in support.?
• Businesses can encourage company employees to take action - and to help amplify the voices of some of the world’s most vulnerable. Here are just a few ways employees across the United States can volunteer their time to help refugees get settled into their new lives and neighborhoods.?
• Perhaps most of all, we need the ideas, the efficiency, and the expertise of the private sector. From designing client-centered programs to improving technology for cash transfers, business acumen can be leveraged to change and save lives.?

The scale of the challenge ahead is unprecedented. This is why the leadership of, and partnership with, the private sector is more necessary, and live-saving, than ever before.?

Co-signed by:?

Jane Fraser, CEO of Citi

Joe Gebbia, Co-Founder and Chairman of Airbnb.org

Steve Kaufer, Co-founder and CEO of Tripadvisor

Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber

Peter McGuinness, CEO of Impossible Foods?

Luis von Ahn, CEO and Co-Founder, Duolingo

Matthew McCarthy?CEO, Ben & Jerry’s

To learn more about the International Rescue Committee, visit rescue.org