Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
How are communities in Khartoum rebuilding after crisis?
After violence displaced thousands of people from Sudan’s capital, many are now returning to their homes, only to find much of the city’s infrastructure looted, damaged or destroyed.
The IRC has been working closely with the community to rebuild and restock two healthcare centres, ensuring local people can get the medical support they urgently need.
In the last of our three-part series, IRC UK Executive Director Flora Alexander describes the impact.
How are communities in Khartoum rebuilding after crisis?
After violence displaced thousands of people from Sudan’s capital, many are now returning to their homes, only to find much of the city’s infrastructure looted, damaged or destroyed.
The IRC has been working closely with the community to rebuild and restock two healthcare centres, ensuring local people can get the medical support they urgently need.
In the last of our three-part series, IRC UK Executive Director Flora Alexander describes the impact.







![Ammar: Refugee. Mask Maker. Community Volunteer.
Ammar is a refugee from Syria living in Athens, Greece. He spent 10 months living in a camp on the Greek islands before moving to Athens, where he now volunteers to keep people safe and fed.“Since this pandemic started, my first response was to help out,” he says.
On World Refugee Day, we are proud to celebrate the essential contributions of refugees like Ammar—during COVID-19 and beyond. You can learn more about our campaign at Rescue-UK.org/WorldRefugeeDay.
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“Since this pandemic [started] my first response was to help out. Help the community, the society, the world.”
Ammar Refugee Mask Maker Community Volunteer
“I came from Syria. I was studying engineering, but I had to leave because of the war. Me as a refugee, I wanted to take action. I felt the unity with the world, the harmony. Because all the world was in a war against this pandemic. We do this daily, we produce masks, then we deliver them around Athens, for refugees, for hospitals, for all the community. Refugees, we can be useful for the world. And doing masks, this is just an example about what we can do.
I am a refugee and I am a mask maker.”
The International Rescue Committee helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover and gain control of their future. Ammar: Refugee. Mask Maker. Community Volunteer.](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7CwTFO4aKAU/mqdefault.jpg)


![How the IRC and Sesame Workshop reach refugee children during COVID-19
Ahlan Simsim, created by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Sesame Workshop, is an early childhood development program that gives millions of refugee and displaced children and their families in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq the support they need to cope with crises and build a brighter future. The program has adapted to COVID-19 by providing caregivers with learning activities for their children via WhatsApp.
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Tripoli, Lebanon
We stay home every day and watch Simsim [Ahlan Simsim, the show] and we cant go outside because of Corona.
Ahlan Simsim, created by the IRC and Sesame Workshop, is an early childhood development program.
It continues to provide learning activities for Syrian refugee children in the Middle East.
Roaa, what do we mean by caring?
It means my father and mother love me.
To adapt to COVID-19, IRC facilitators now reach caregivers via WhatsApp with activities for children at home.
The activities focus on language skills, hygiene, social-emotional learning and physical movement.
An animal that gives us milk?
Cow.
An animal who swims and says, wak wak?
Duck.
In times of crisis, education is a lifeline, giving refugee children the skills they need to heal and thrive.
We are working to ensure our programs continue safely.
The IRC helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover and gain control of their future. How the IRC and Sesame Workshop reach refugee children during COVID-19](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7vxZJqB0kSs/mqdefault.jpg)