2000
• RET was created through the vision of Mrs. Sadako Ogata – former UN High Commissioner for Refugees
2001
• RET was created to bridge the post-primary education gap between refugee adolescents and youth in fragile contexts.
2002
• Operations started in Uganda, Tanzania, Guinea, Sudan, & Colombia.
• RET became a member of ICVA (International Council of Voluntary Agencies).
2003
• Operations started in Pakistan where RET started working mainly with the Afghan communities.
• RET is one of the initial active members of INEE’s first and solely working group on EiE (Education in Emergencies) Standards.
2004
• Operations started in Ecuador, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and Kenya.
• RET co-leads the Regional LAC conference on the elaboration of the first international Standards for Education in Emergencies EiE, whose handbook was launched by INEE at the end of the same year.
2005
• RET USA, Inc. was registered as an independent organization in Washington, DC.
• RET Kenya was registered as a local independent organization in Nairobi.
• Operations started in Chad.
• RET became the co-convener for the INEE task team on adolescents and youth.
2006
• Operations started in Burundi. RET originally worked with Burundian youth in Tanzania from 2002 to 2005. As camps started to close and populations began returning home, the needs shifted back to Burundi.
2007
• Operations started in Afghanistan. Afghan programs have led to four awards including the Afghan National Hero Award from the Afghan Parliament and the Massoud Foundation in the provinces of Parwan and Panjshir.
2008
• Operations started in Colombia.
2009
• Operations started in Panama.
2010
• Operations started in Haiti & Costa Rica.
• RET is selected to become a member of the INEE Steering Committee (up to 2017).
2011
• Operations started in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
2012
• Operations started in Venezuela.
• Operations started in Kenya.
2013
• RET Liban was registered as an independent local organization to respond to the Syrian crisis impact in Lebanon.
2014
• RET Japan was registered as an independent organization.
• Operations started in Turkey.
• RET became the co-chair of the INEE Steering Committee (up to 2017)
2015
• RET Germany e.V. was registered as an independent eingetragener Verein (registered association) organization in Berlin.
• RET is named a member of the Executive Board for the Swiss Network on Education and Development – RECI.
2016
• Operations started in Somalia.
• RET became a member of the Youth Compact in Humanitarian Action and its Task Team 1 on Youth Guidelines.
2017
• RET YKD was established as a local independent organization in Ankara.
• Operations started in Mexico.
• RET was selected to become a member of the Global Education Cluster Advisory Group.
• RET was selected to be a member of the INEE Working Group on Standards & Practices and on Advocacy.
• RET became an active member of the INEE Youth (Prevention of Violent Extremism Group).
2018
• RET Colombia was established as a local, independent organization in Bogota.
• RET Panama was established as a local, independent organization in Panama City.
• RET Brazil was established as a local, independent organization in Sao Paulo.
• Operations started in Peru.
• RET was selected to be a member of the INEE Working Group Education & Policies, and a co-chair of the Alternative Education Work Stream.
• RET was selected to be a member of GADRRRES – Global Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction & Recovery in the Education Sector.
• RET was selected as member to the Child Protection Alliance.
• RET integrated the G-7 Global Task Force, member of the G-7
Education, Gender, and Peace & Security Working Groups.
2019
• Operations started in Mauritania.
• Registrations in Mali, Burkina Faso, & Niger are finalized.
• RET was selected to be a member and the co-lead of the Education Cannot Wait (ECW) Technical Task Team.
2020
• RET Mexico was established as a local independent organization in Mexico City.
• RET Niger was established as a local independent organization in Niamey.
• Operations to start in Mali & Niger, and Dominican Republic soon.
• RET is planning on expanding to reach the most vulnerable in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, Nigeria, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Congo, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
Within two decades of its founding, the RET Alliance is active in four continents and 32 countries and has directly touched the lives of 2 million direct participants & 20 million beneficiaries.
Learn more about the RET Alliance and RET Americas Legal Status.