As the world marks the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, CWS reaffirms a simple promise: protection must remain at the center of humanitarian action. From refugee resettlement and asylum support to disaster response, mental health care and anti-trafficking services, CWS works alongside communities so every person can live with safety, dignity and hope.
“No one shall expel or return (“refouler”) a refugee against his or her will, in any manner whatsoever, to a territory where he or she fears threats to life or freedom.”
— Excerpt from the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees
What Protection Means: Safety, Dignity and the Right to Rebuild
Protection begins with a simple truth: every person has the right to live free from violence, fear and discrimination. In humanitarian work, protection extends beyond meeting immediate needs by ensuring vulnerable individuals can access safety, understand their rights and rebuild their lives with dignity.
This year, as the world recognizes the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, that commitment is especially urgent. The Convention remains the cornerstone of international refugee protection, affirming that people forced to flee persecution do not lose their rights when they cross a border and are not forcibly returned to places where their lives or freedom would be at risk.
Around the world, families are fleeing conflict, persecution, climate-related disasters and other crises that leave them in prolonged periods of uncertainty. Protection helps people access a pathway toward stability, ensuring they have the tools they need to thrive.
Why Protection Matters in Humanitarian Crises
The need for protection has never been clearer. By the end of 2025, 117.8 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced. That means roughly one in every 70 people on earth has been forced from home.
The scale of displacement is staggering, but people facing displacement are more than statistics. They are individuals forced to remain in exile for years or even decades without the promise for a safer tomorrow. They are families who arrive in host countries after surviving loss, separation and dangerous journeys, only to find prolonged uncertainty upon their arrival.
Protection is essential because crisis magnifies vulnerability. People who have been displaced may lack safe shelter, reliable income, access to health care or the ability to enroll children in school. Women, children, elderly adults, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ people, survivors of violence and people from marginalized communities, like Roma or Indigenous populations, often face heightened risks of exploitation or abuse.
Without protection, humanitarian assistance can fall short of building long-term resilience and safety. In addition to basic necessities, like food and medical care, people need accessible legal pathways, psychosocial support and the ability to make decisions about their own futures.
The 1951 Refugee Convention provided a shared framework for responsibility, rooted in the belief that safety should not depend on where a person is born or whether a border is open in a moment of crisis. 75 years later, in an era of rising barriers to asylum, shrinking humanitarian resources and growing displacement, that promise is as important as ever.
Protection in CWS’s Work: A Backbone Across Every Program
For CWS, protection is the backbone that upholds all of our work. Whether we are welcoming a newly arrived refugee family, helping a community recover after disaster or advocating for policies that keep families together, our goal is the same: to help people live in safety and dignity with the support they need to rebuild.
Below are some of the ways that CWS prioritizes protection for vulnerable communities:
- Refugee resettlement and welcome: CWS helps refugee families find safety and rebuild in communities across the United States through services including case management, cultural orientation, housing support, health care, protection for unaccompanied children, employment and school enrollment.
- Asylum and immigration support: CWS stands with asylum seekers and immigrants who need access to legal information, community support and fair policies by helping families understand their rights, remain together and pursue safety through lawful pathways.
- Anti-trafficking services: CWS supports survivors of trafficking with trauma-informed case management, safety planning and referrals that help them regain stability and choice, while reducing the risks that allow exploitation to continue.
- Mental health and psychosocial support: In crisis settings, protection includes care for invisible wounds. CWS supports locally led, trauma-informed mental health programs that help people affected by displacement, violence and disaster cope, recover and reconnect with community.
- Emergency response and disaster recovery: When conflict, storms, earthquakes or extreme weather uproot families, CWS works with partners to provide urgent supplies, safe shelter, recovery support and long-term resilience, while building preparedness and risk reduction for disaster-prone communities.
- Advocacy and policy: CWS advocates for laws and policies that uphold asylum, refugee resettlement and access to protection. This work helps address the systems that determine whether people fleeing harm can find safety and rebuild with dignity.
Protection efforts are visible in every area of our work—in a family receiving essential information in their native language, in a community leader shaping long-term resilience and in a refugee newcomer finding safety and belonging.
The 1951 Refugee Convention outlined the rights refugees are entitled to. Now, 75 years later, the world has a choice: We can allow protection to weaken in this moment it’s most needed, or we can renew the promise that people fleeing danger deserve safety and dignity.
Since 1946, CWS has worked with communities around the world to respond to hunger, poverty, displacement and disaster. Rooted in faith and committed to justice, CWS partners with local leaders, congregations, community organizations and supporters to build a world where everyone has food, voice and a safe place to call home.
Your support helps make protection possible for people seeking safety. Donate today to stand with CWS until everyone is safe.