Donate

The International Refugee Integration and Settlement Exchange

IRISE is a civil society initiative that fosters connections and collaboration across international borders involved in supporting refugee resettlement and integration

Launched in 2024, the purpose of IRISE is to create opportunities for people engaged at local or national levels to exchange ideas, inspiration and information across international borders with a shared vision of creating communities where refugees resettling or arriving through complementary pathways are welcomed, valued, included, supported and thrive.

IRISE is an initiative of Refugee Council USA (RCUSA), the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA), Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR), and the New Zealand Red Cross (NZRC).

What will IRISE do?

  • Knowledge exchange

    Create opportunities for ideas, information and inspiration to be shared across borders to address common experiences and challenges faced by refugees arriving through resettlement and complementary pathways.

  • Network Building

    Create opportunities for connections to be made between organisations, groups and individuals involved in supporting refugee settlement and integration at a local or national level and their peers in other countries.

  • Center Refugee Expertise

    Center refugee expertise: Provide a space that centers lived experience to better shape and inform refugee settlement and integration.

Activities and Participation

In 2025, three virtual exchange events will be held, with future activities to be determined in consultation with IRISE participants and national leads.

Participation in IRISE activities will be as inclusive and accessible as is practical, with consideration given to ensuring meaningful refugee participation. Engagement of local and national actors will be facilitated by IRISE national leads (RCOA, CCR, RCUSA, NZRC).

While participation of organisations, groups and individuals involved in refugee settlement and integration in different parts of the world is generally welcomed, for practical reasons (namely, to be able to hold virtual events across multiple time zones), IRISE will focus on those supporting refugee settlement and integration in Asia Pacific (Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea) and the Americas (USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay).

Those interested in IRISE activities based in Europe will be encouraged to engage with the EU SHARE Network.

Get Involved

You can learn more about the similarities and differences in resettlement programs in the four participating countries through this tool, drafted by a graduate capstone research group at the George Washington University.

Interested in participating in the next IRISE virtual exchange? Sign up to be notified about upcoming virtual exchanges!