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06/11/2024 |

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Season of the Floods: When water no longer means life

For several months, countries in West and Central Africa have been experiencing unprecedented flooding, which has destroyed homes, devastated crops, swept away livestock, and led to the loss of human lives.Red Cross volunteers are on the front lines, assisting impacted communities with support from IFRC and its partners, who are ramping up their emergency response.So far, the IFRC and its members National Societies have launched emergency appeals inCameroon,Chad,Niger,Nigeria andSouth Sudan to expand support to many more.However, the needs are immense, and additional resources are urgently needed to support vulnerable communities.The successive floods are a stark reminder of the effects of climate change in Africa. Beyond the immediate emergency response, it is imperative to establish climate resilience measures to protect vulnerable communities, notably throughanticipatory flood actions to strengthen disaster preparedness.Cameroon and Chad: 'We haven’t slept for ten days'In Cameroon, unprecedented floods since August 2024 have affected over 455,000 people. They have submerged 85,000 hectares of land and led to the loss of livelihoods for thousands of families.“We haven’t slept for ten days,” saysAsta Waziri, leader of a women’s cooperative of maize producers. “My shop and part of my home were destroyed, taking our stock of grains and many valuable belongings.”In response to this crisis, the Cameroon Red Cross immediately deployed volunteer teams to rescue affected people and organize evacuations to non-flooded areas.With support of emergency allocations from the IFRC’sDisaster Relief Emergency Fund (IFRC-DREF), the Cameroon Red Cross has provided cash assistance to over 4,800 people, enabling them to meet urgent needs for food, clothing, and temporary shelter.The National society has also strengthened its health and sanitation efforts, educating communities on practices to prevent waterborne diseases like cholera and distributing hygiene and sanitation kits.“With the cash assistance from the Red Cross, I plan to send two or three children back to school and build at least one room with durable material,” says Aska. “At the moment we are all squeezed into one hut."Most importantly, she says, she will buy cereals that the can store and feed her family over time.In Chad, more than 1.9 million people are affected, and the Chadian Red Cross is mobilized to provide shelter, food, and essential items. However, infrastructure is inadequate to meet the needs: 217,779 homes have been destroyed, 432,203 hectares of arable land ravaged, and over 72,000 livestock lost.Nigeria: 'My family and I ran for our lives'In Nigeria, floods reached critical levels between July and September 2024. Thirty-three of the 36 states were affected, primarily due to heavy rains and the collapse of the Alau Dam in Borno State.Over three million people have been impacted, resulting in 311 deaths, more than 3,000 injuries, and the displacement of 390,000 individuals.“We all had to flee. My family and I ran for our lives. It was the most horrible moment of my life,” recounts Hadjara Habu, a mother of five whose home was destroyed by the floodwaters.The flooding also claimed more than 649 hectares of farmland, jeopardizing food security in the months ahead. Nigerian Red Cross volunteers, supported by IFRC-DREF, are providing shelter, food, drinking water, and hygiene items.Red Cross Volunteers gave people like Hajara cash vouchers to help them get through the coming days.“It is not a lot of money, but it will help us in many ways. We lost all our food items to the floods; this will help me and my family to buy food.”However, the growing number of people affected requires additional resources.Niger: A crisis worsened by climate changeIn Niger, more than 1.3 millionpeople have been affected by floods across the country’s eight regions. Official figures indicate the destruction of over 146,000 homes, loss of lives, and the devastation of over 22,000 hectares of crops.These increasingly frequent extreme weather events underscore the urgent need to strengthen infrastructure, early warning systems, and adopt climate adaptation strategies to reduce future disaster risks.In response, the Red Cross of Niger is deploying a comprehensive intervention that includes emergency assistance, health services, prevention, and awareness-raising about climate risks. The Red Cross is also providing shelter kits, distributing small cash grants, implementing prevention measures against waterborne diseases to help mitigate both short- and long-term impacts.Read more about IFRC’s six active flood related emergency appeals in Africa:CameroonChadEthiopiaNigeriaNigerSouth SudanRead more about unprecedented 2024 flooding in other regions:Season of floods: Youth in Fiji help their communities prevent the damage caused by climate changeBehind the scenes: ‘The new normal’ means the job of getting ready for disaster never endsSeason of the floods: ‘It was terrifying,’ but Red Crescent volunteers nonetheless risked all to save lives and help people recover

11/04/2023 |

Article

Empress Shôken Fund announces grants for 2023

The Empress Shôken Fund (ESF) is named after Her Majesty Empress Shôken of Japan who – at the 9th International Conference of the Red Cross – proposed the creation of an international fund to promote relief work in peacetime. The fund is administered by the Joint Commission of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which maintains close contact with the Permanent Mission of Japan in Geneva, the Japanese Red Cross Society and the Meiji Jingu Intercultural Research Institute in Japan. The imperial family, the Japanese government, the Japanese Red Cross and the Japanese people revere the memory of Her Majesty Empress Shôken, and their enduring regard for the Fund is evidenced by the regularity of their contributions to it. The Fund has a total value of more than 14 million Swiss francs and supports projects run by National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies that benefit the communities they serve in many different ways. The first grant was awarded in 1921 to help five European National Societies fight the spread of tuberculosis. Since then, more than15 million Swiss francs have been allocated to 171 National Societies. The grants are announced every year on 11April, the anniversary of the death of Her Majesty Empress Shôken. Increasingly, the Fund encourages new and innovative approaches with the potential to generate insights that will benefit our International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. 2023 selection process The Fund received 51 applications in 2022 for the 102nd distribution of income, covering a diverse range of humanitarian projects run by National Societies globally. The applications submitted featured more innovative proposals than in previous years, further confirming the need for the ESF to support innovation and experimentation within National Societies. This year the Joint Commission agreed to allocate a total of 367,187 Swiss francs to 13 projects in Albania, Belgium, Burundi, Eswatini, Fiji, Guinea, Honduras, Indonesia, Paraguay, Sudan, Syria, Thailand and Uruguay. The world’s current crises have impacted the performance of the fund, and ESF Joint Commission members have adjusted the process accordingly. This year the projects selected cover a variety of topics, including first aid and rescue, youth, disaster preparedness, health, and National Society development (NSD). The 2023 grants by theme The Fund continues to encourage new and innovative approaches, and this is clearly reflected in the selection of proposals to receive funding. Some National Societies are incubating and testing their innovative solutions and experimenting with a host of ideas and approaches. With their pilot methodology, they could potentially scale up and implement their initiatives with the support of other funding sources.In this category, the selected grantees are as follows: Pilot methodology The Honduran Red Cross has taken an innovative approach to volunteer empowerment and engagement. The goal of its project is to establish a fund that supports innovative micro-projects developed and led by local volunteers. This will help forge stronger links between the National Society and the communities it serves. It has designed a pilot with 12 micro-projects, responding to an identified need to grow activity at the branch level. The Uruguayan Red Cross is focusing efforts on improving mental health resilience among young people by providing training in schools, creating psychosocial support mechanisms and forming youth brigades. There is a growing need for youth mental health support, and this pilot in two schools will give the team an opportunity to learn and adapt their approach. The Indonesian Red Cross Society will pilot a community-based approach to environmental awareness and food security. A renovated community learning centre will be used to launch the pilot, which will engage over 100 stay-at-home spouses and 30 children. The project aims to tackle emerging issues, such as climate change, while building stronger community connections. Many National Societies have prioritized innovative solutions to combat the challenges of climate change. In this category, the selected beneficiaries, in addition to the Indonesian Red Cross Society, are as follows. Climate change Flooding is one of the most devastating natural hazards. The Belgian Red Cross will engage and empower young people impacted by floods to express and share their feelings on climate change through digital story telling. Simple to replicate and scalable, this initiative has the potential to give us tremendous insight and allow for powerful messages to be shared. As a means of addressing the challenges of climate change, the Burundi Red Cross will engage in implementing activities such as tree planting and promoting improved city waste management. The project is a youth volunteer-led initiative that will reduce youth unemployment. This comprehensive approach will result in significant learning opportunities. The Paraguayan Red Cross will develop a mobile app that will serve as an early warning system and educate communities on how they can respond to flooding in seven community districts. This solution is scalable, innovative and a sustainable approach to addressing community needs. Finally, the last group of beneficiaries will use their grants to address issues related to disaster preparedness, health and youth. In this category, the selected grantees are as follows. Disaster preparedness The Baphalali Eswatini Red Cross Society will improve data management processes for effective decision-making during emergencies in Eswatini by 2025. The main idea is to integrate and mainstream a mobile phone app dashboard into the existing National Society information management system and increase community participation (affected communities) in information sharing and management. Thailand is prone to natural hazards, which often cause devastating damage and loss of lives. Therefore, the Thai Red Cross Society aims to improve disaster readiness, mainly for earthquakes, by training children and young people using virtual reality simulation. The Sudanese Red Crescent will use the funds to support flood-affected women, providing them with cash, grants and livelihood tools to allow them to start their own business. The aim is to build resilience and longer-term recovery contexts for current and future crises by empowering the most vulnerable in a self-sustaining way. Health The Red Cross Society of Guinea will focus on developing a mobile health app to comprehensively improve the quality of basic emergency obstetric and neonatal care, especially for complex deliveries, with a view to reducing maternal and newborn mortality. Youth According to figures on human trafficking, Albania is a primary source country and the non-EU European country with the second highest number of victims. To address this threat, the Albanian Red Cross will use the grant to train staff and volunteers, with a view to activating peer-to-peer prevention in high schools. The National Society will reach out to other sister National Societies to build a strong network of certified trainers who will raise awareness through peer-to-peer activities. The Fiji Red Cross Society aims to overhaul its current volunteer programme, using the grant to implement end-to-end digitization to enhance the onboarding experience and increase the quality and cost-effectiveness of volunteer management. The idea is to also include community-level training that will generate meaningful learning and be easily replicable elsewhere. At present, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent has more than 18,000 staff and volunteers across its local branches who support it in carrying out its humanitarian mission. With a view to scaling up branch development by complementing other initiatives, the National Society will use the grant to digitize its policies for online courses that can be freely accessed at any time, making training more convenient for its network of staff and volunteers. ESF and learning The Fund constantly strives to generate insights from the projects implemented for the benefit of the whole Movement and to diversify its learning materials. Later this year, the Fund will join with the stakeholders of the other NSD funding mechanisms, namely the Capacity Building Fund (CBF) and the National Society Investment Alliance (NSIA),for a learning event, with the aim of sharing lessons learned and experiences from grantees across the different funds. It is important to recognize the diversity of National Societies within the network and the wide range of NSD support that is needed. The ESF and the other funding mechanisms (which focus more on NSD) operate in a complementary way, and togethertheyhave the capacity to meet this array of NSD and learning needs and support a broader transformation in our network.

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Season of the Floods: When water no longer means life

Somalia Country Plan 2022

Central Asia 2023 Plan

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