Who we are
The Humanitarian Rescue Initiative (HRI) works in more than 40 countries and in 28 U.S. cities to help people affected by humanitarian crises to survive, recover and rebuild their lives.
Driven Compassion
The Humanitarian Rescue Initiative responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, including the conflict in Ukraine and the crisis in Afghanistan.
Sustainable Impact
We help to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. And we are proud to fight for a world where women and girls have an equal chance to succeed.
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+Strategy100: Empowering people in crisis and beyond
Since the Humanitarian Rescue Initiative (HRI) was first founded at the request of Albert Einstein in 1933, our global team of more than 17,000 staff have helped people upended by conflict and crisis to survive, recover, and regain control of their lives. Today we work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities.
We focus our support in five areas: ensuring safety from harm, improving health, increasing access to education, improving economic wellbeing, and ensuring people have the power to influence decisions that affect their lives. In all our programming, we address the unique needs of women and girls (who represent the majority of those displaced)—and the barriers to progress everywhere we work.
Changing needs in a changing world
In the almost 90 years since our founding, the world has changed and so have the needs of the people we serve. Today a staggering 100 million people are displaced as result of conflict, persecution and crisis. People are displaced for longer periods than ever (most for over a decade) as conflicts (such as that in Afghanistan) average 20 years in length. The climate crisis, projected to displace as many as 150 million people by 2050, further exacerbates these trends, as does COVID-19.
