'One of their own'
What does 'Local Everywhere' mean to the people at the heart of an IFRC-DREF emergency response?
“When I entered their homes, the women did not see me as a stranger. They saw me as one of their own.
They opened up to me, spoke freely, and shared things they had never told anyone before."
"We speak the same language, live in the same culture, and understand each other’s lives.
That connection made all the difference.”
These are the words of Sharifa, a community-based health and first aid trainer with the Afghan Red Crescent Society, who was part of a team of women volunteers responding in the aftermath of a 6.0 magnitude earthquake in August 2025.
Sharifa's story is one of many being highlighted as the IFRC's Disaster Response Emergency Fund (IFRC-DREF) hosts its annual Pledging Conference in Geneva, Switzerland and globally online.
Sharifa is one of many examples of people who work tirelessly to help people in crisis as part of IFRC's network of National Societies around the world.
This is why a main theme of this year's conference is 'Local, Everywhere' — a theme that connects to the larger IFRC story of local presence and global connectivity and influence.
We are extremely grateful and proud of volunteers like Sharifa. Because they are already in the communities, they are able to help at a moment's notice and will continue to be there, even after the media spotlights turn elsewhere.
Here below are the voices of other people impacted by IFRC-DREF action around the world in 2025.
Local, Everywhere
From a city in Yemen, overwhelmed by floods ...
“What we received went beyond material relief. It restored my family’s sense of security and gave us the strength to endure the aftermath of the floods.”
Mohammad Hassan still remembers the night when heavy rains unleashed floods that swept through his community, forcing his family into a fight for survival.
Mohammad was one of more than 300,000 people impacted by those devastating floods which washed over and inundated entire towns.
Just when fear and helplessness was starting to take over, a Yemen Red Crescent team arrived and led Mohammad's family to safety. For Mohammad, that moment was more than a rescue — it was the return of hope.
The Yemen Red Crescent response was backed by an emergency allocation of just under 1 million Swiss francs from IFRC-DREF. The funding supported the Red Crescent's work providing shelter and water, sanitation and hygiene, among other things.
To a tiny school in Armenia
Located several metres away from the border with Azerbaijan, the school has only five students, four of whom come from one family.
For the children here, the school is more than a place to learn. They love their teachers, who are giving them a feeling of hope and a new chance for the future.
For the start of the new academic year this year, the Armenian Red Cross Society, together with IFRC, delivered school bags full of stationery and other necessary things for their studies.
One of the students dreams of becoming a doctor, while another is still choosing between being a singer or a football player.
What matters most is that these children have everything they need to dream freely and make any choice possible.
But that is not the only support that IFRC-DREF was able to provide for people on the move in Armenia. The Armenian Red Cross's response to population movement in 2025 was supported by an allocation of 87,000 Swiss Francs from IFRC-DREF. These emergency funds supported the provision of shelter, basic health care, as well as water, sanitation and hygiene, among other things.
To a village in Zimbabwe
“Safety precautions are necessary when dealing with cholera.”
Zimbabwe Red Cross volunteer Dorothy backs up her words with action.
Dorothy is part of a Zimbabwe volunteer team that mobilised quickly after a 2025 cholera outbreak, alerting people to the dangers of cholera and help them avoid infection.
Equipped with a canister of disinfectant that rests on her shoulders like a backpack, we meet Dorothy as she disinfects a tarpaulin in the cholera-stricken village of Hopely.
In part with the support of IFRC-DREF, the Zimbabwe Red Cross has also trained 300 volunteers who go door to door to raise awareness about cholera prevention and provide support at 15 oral rehydration points across the country.
The operation, which has reached more than 650,000 people in Harare alone, has also been supported by DG ECHO, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Finnish Red Cross and the IFRC.
For its part, IFRC-DREF quickly allocated just under 290,000 Swiss francs to these and many other actions aimed at stopping the spread quickly.
An overwhelmed hospital Syria
“Suwayda Hospital was collapsing under the weight of need. We had more patients than we could ever handle, and we were forced to make impossible choices.
"Every day we felt we were losing ground, and hope. Then the Syrian Arab Red Crescent came. The moment the convoys arrived, it was like a lifeline.”
These are the words of Dr. Obeida Abou Fakher, a medical doctor who works in the emergency room at the main hospital in the city of Suwayda in southern Syria.
The convoys Dr. Fakher is talking two were just one of many actions taken by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, with support from the IFRC and IFRC-DREF, which allocated more than 1 million Swiss francs to support the Red Crescent's response to the complex, unfolding emergency in late 2024 and into 2025.
A settlement for displaced people in Lebanon
“We did not have time to pack. We left in the same clothes we were wearing. I was unwell, and every step felt impossible. But we had to keep going for our children.”
These are the words of Fadia Badr Sabah, whose family had finally come to see life in their hometown of Homs as unbearable: no work, no school, and no way to live with dignity.
So Fadia, her husband, and their five children, fled their home in Homs, despite having no time to prepare. They left everything behind. They covered many kilometres, even crossing a cold, rising river. Every step tested their strength.
When they finally reached Akkar, in northern Lebanon, they were exhausted, soaked, and empty-handed, until the Lebanese Red Cross found them.
Volunteers greeted them with warmth and kindness, offering blankets, food, and a safe place to rest.
The work of those volunteers was supported in part by an allocation of just under 500,000 Swiss Francs from IFRC-DREF. The funding supported actions ranging from shelter, health, water and hygiene, livelihoods and much more.
These are just some of the stories of people who have felt the impact of IFRC-DREF in 2025. These impacts are still being felt today, as people recover from shocks that changed their lives forever.
The inspiring story of Canan, below, is a just one example.
Mohamed Hassan, whose family was forced from their home after floods destroyed much of the town where they live.
Mohamed Hassan, whose family was forced from their home after floods destroyed much of the town where they live.
A girl holds up a drawing of a heart in a school that received support from the Armenian Red Cross.
A girl holds up a drawing of a heart in a school that received support from the Armenian Red Cross.
Zimbabwe Red Cross volunteer Dorothy carries equipment she uses to disinfect places and protect people from cholera.
Zimbabwe Red Cross volunteer Dorothy carries equipment she uses to disinfect places and protect people from cholera.
Dr. Obeida Abou Fakher stands in front of the hospital where he works in Syria.
Dr. Obeida Abou Fakher stands in front of the hospital where he works in Syria.
Fadia Badr Sabah, who came to Lebanon after leaving her home in Homs, Syria, with her family. Life in Homs, she says, had become impossible.
Fadia Badr Sabah, who came to Lebanon after leaving her home in Homs, Syria, with her family. Life in Homs, she says, had become impossible.
Canan's story
When the earthquake struck southern Türkiye in February 2023, IFRC-DREF acted quickly, allocating 2 million Swiss francs to support the Turkish Red Crescent's rapid response.
Two years later, that rapid investment means that people like Canan are able to live fully, engage in their community and revitalise their livelihoods once again.
“During the earthquake, a wall collapsed on my face and back. I was badly injured."
"That period was incredibly painful. I went through long treatments."
"Now, I can walk without a walker. Thanks to the Red Crescent.
One of my eyes is blind, but I still have many friends and loved ones.”
Watch Canan tell the full story in the video below.
Shaping the future
These are just some of the voices being highlighted during the 2025 IFRC Pledging Conference, taking place in Geneva, Switzerland (and globally online) on 7 November 2025.
The theme of this year's conference is Shaping the IFRC-DREF of the Future. It's an opportunity to co-create a shared strategic vision for the next five years of the Fund, ensuring it continues to deliver timely, innovative, and impactful support where it is needed most.
For 2025, our target is to mobilize 100 million Swiss francs — a milestone that will position the IFRC-DREF as a leading high-quality pooled fund for locally led humanitarian action and anticipatory approaches, while pioneering innovative financing through its insurance mechanism.
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