The IRC and Sesame Workshop have won $100 million in the MacArthur 100andChange competition to deliver the largest transformative early learning program for more than nine million refugee children in the Middle East.

It is no exaggeration that the future of the United States as a home for refugees is now on the line. New IRC data shows there are even fewer refugee arrivals in the U.S. than expected.

Even when bombs dropped around them, these Syrian twin brothers bravely made the dangerous walk to school every day because, for them, education meant survival.

“When you start doing anything, at first it’s going to be frightening,” Bothina Matar reassures the refugee women she works with in Dallas. She encourages them to strive for a better future—their children’s future—without forgetting their past. “I am trying my best,” Bothina tells them, “and succeeding somehow.”

To better gauge Afghans’ hopes and fears regarding the future of the country, IRC researchers consulted 136 of the 650 Afghans who serve on our staff across the country. This report highlights their observations and outlines recommendations for international engagement in Afghanistan beyond 2014.