Early this week world leaders convened in New York for the U.N. General Assembly. A key focus: the world refugee crisis. On Monday the assembly adopted the “New York Declaration” in a historic show of international support for refugees. “In this new document, world leaders express their political will to save lives, protect rights and share responsibility on a global scale, and towards this end make a series of strong commitments to address the issues,” said General Assembly President, Peter Thomson.

There was more progress the next day at President Obama’s Leaders' Summit on Refugees. There, President Obama rallied 52 countries and many aid organizations to pledge 4.5 billion more than previous funding levels, in addition to roughly doubling resettlement commitments for next year.

“This crisis is a test of our common humanity—whether we give in to suspicion and fear and build walls, or whether we see ourselves in another. Those girls being trafficked and tortured, they could be our daughters. That little boy on the beach could be our son or our grandson,” said Obama. “We cannot avert our eyes or turn our backs. To slam the door in the face of these families would betray our deepest values.”

While recognizing the importance of these concrete commitments, some human rights organizations point out that these steps still fall short of addressing the current global need, and that careful monitoring will be necessary to ensure countries actually follow through on their commitments.

In addition to soliciting commitments from the international community, the Leaders’ Summit called on one of the world’s most innovative sectors for help—the U.S. tech industry. CNet reports that 51 companies are investing, donating, or raising 650 million dollars for refugees as a result of the summit. Some if these industry leaders, like Google, HP, TripAdvisor, and AirBnB, have also pledged to offer education and career opportunities to refugees.

“We are obligated as leaders in the private sector to do everything we can,” said TripAdvisor CEO Steve Kaufer. The Wall Street Journal reports that the company plans to offer job training to refugees in the United States, as well as expanding a web platform that offers information to refugees on the move.

More dimensions of the displacement crisis are also being explored. At the U.N. General Assembly the Women’s Refugee Commission explained that the refugee crisis is a feminist issue. News Deeply reports that millions of displaced women and girls are the victims of gender-based violence, and Time asserts that the perilous journeys all refugees face are even worse for women.

24-year-old Foni Joyce, a refugee from South Sudan and member of the Women’s Refugee Commission, addressed the U.N. Summit on Refugees on Monday. “We are looking for an explicit, detailed commitment to protect all displaced women and girls from gender-based violence while in transit and upon reaching their destinations.” she tells Deeply. “We are also calling for expansion of legal and safe employment opportunities that leverage the capacity of refugee women and youth to sustain and protect themselves and their families.”

Finally, the summits gave us a heart-wrenching glimmer of hope when President Obama read aloud a letter written to him by Alex, a 6-year-old American boy. In it Alex asks the president to find Omran Daqneesh, the 5-year-old Syrian “ambulance boy” whose photograph shocked the nation last month, and bring him to live with his family. "Can you please go get him and bring him to our home ... we'll be waiting for you guys with flags flowers and balloons. We will give him a family and he will be our brother," says Alex.

For many, Alex represents the compassion and humanity in all of us—characteristics that we sometimes let be overpowered by cynicism and despair. We could all learn to be a little more like Alex. Watch Alex read his letter here.

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