Protecting children on the move: On International Migrants Day, we reaffirm our collective responsibility to ensure migration is safer, more inclusive, and more humane

The Gambia: Medicines and a vital alliance against malaria

In the Kombo North district of The Gambia’s West Coast Region, the rainy season has just ended, yet its impacts remain visible. Along the road leading to several villages, tall grass and pools of stagnant water create ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes, the vectors of malaria.On an early afternoon in Sinthiou Sory, the Bah family gathers under the shade of a tree to escape the oppressive heat. Mariama Bah, her youngest son resting on her lap, watches as a community health worker prepares to administer the boy’s second dose of anti-malaria medication.“I had been informed of their visit, and I was determined to be here so my child could receive his dose,” she says.For Mariama, like for thousands of other mothers across The Gambia, this simple act is a vital shield in a country where children under five bear the heaviest burden of malaria.This scene is repeated in many households across Kombo North during the second cycle of the seasonal malaria chemoprevention campaign. It is an essential intervention in a country where malaria remains endemic.The power of awareness-raisingLong before any dose is administered, Gambian Red Cross volunteers were mobilized in extensive awareness-raising efforts and community engagement.“Dozens of volunteers have been trained and deployed for this campaign. They move from house to house, sharing accurate information, dispelling misconceptions, and encouraging parents to ensure that no child is left behind,” explains Alieu Jammeh, Malaria Project Manager at the Gambian Red Cross. “Their work is reinforced by awareness caravans circulating through streets and public spaces.”For Alimathou Diadhiou, local supervisor of the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP), awareness-raising is essential “Without proper sensitization, we risk missing children because of simple misunderstandings or rumours,” she says. When reluctance is detected, it is reported to the supervisor, who then steps in alongside Red Cross volunteers to address concerns directly.A collaborative approach that is delivering results.“Thanks to this teamwork, reluctance is almost always resolved in the end,” says Alimathou Diadhiou. “In Sinthiou Sory, we have achieved more than 90 per cent of our coverage target.”An international partnership serving communitiesThe campaign is part of the Accelerating Malaria Elimination in The Gambia project, implemented by theIFRC and theGambia Red Cross Society,funded by China’s Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund (GDSSCF). This initiative strengthens the Gambian government's efforts to achieve its goal of eliminating malaria.“Every dose administered is a concrete victory in the fight against malaria,” says Dr. Mame Diarra Faye, Health Programme Manager at the IFRC. “With the leadership of the Gambian government and the support of the Gambia Red Cross Society,the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), and other partners, we can and will make malaria elimination a reality.”

Life after Ebola: The stories of survivors highlight the pain people have endured — and the work still to be done.

Philippines earthquake: 30 seconds and a life turned upside down

Early action in Yemen: How Red Crescent volunteers protected families from the floods

When heavy rains swept across Abs district in Yemen’s Hajjah governorate last August, thousands of internally displaced families - uprooted by conflict and living in fragile shelters - found themselves exposed within minutes.Tents collapsed, roofs made of lightweight materials disintegrated, and families woke up surrounded by mud and rising water with nowhere to go.For many, the night felt endless. For some, it was life-threatening."It was very intense and very frightening." — A father’s night of fearHadi Mohammed Shaer Al-Aslami recounts the fear:"The rain was heavy and frightening. From 9 at night until 3 in the morning, it didn’t stop. It felt like a hurricane, extremely scary. I was holding onto the door with my young son next to me, crying. My mother’s shelter collapsed completely over her head. We never know how strong the rains will be each year, but this year, they were very intense and very frightening."Early preparedness supported by IFRC-DREFIn the days before the heaviest rains, Yemen Red Crescent Society (YRCS) teams had already been monitoring alerts, identifying at-risk areas, and encouraging families to move away from flood channels.These steps - supported by IFRC’s Disaster Response Emergency Fund (IFRC-DREF) - helped position teams and materials closer to high-risk communities.Dr. Ahmed Abdulkarim Nassar, Executive Director of YRCS in Hajjah, explains: "We were able to anticipate the disaster. We prepared our teams and identified the communities most at risk. We didn’t wait, we acted early."A race against rising waterWhen the rain intensified overnight, volunteers moved immediately. Thanks in part to the DREF allocation, YRCS teams reached displacement sites within the first hour, while the flooding was still unfolding."The response was quick and humane. Our teams were distributing relief items, providing first aid, and setting up temporary shelter," Dr. Ahmed recalls.Across the district, the destruction was severe.Volunteer Nasser Al-Adba'i describes: "Homes were destroyed and many families had nothing left. People were in the open, without shelter or food."YRCS was the only actor able to reach the sites in time."We were the only ones in the field at the right moment. We assessed the needs and started distributions right away," he says.Volunteers standing by familiesPreparedness measures taken days earlier, including awareness sessions, simple protective barriers to divert floodwater, and helping families move away from dangerous flood paths, reduced the impact in several high-risk areas."These early steps really helped," Nasser says.Volunteer Jaradah Abdullah recalls how a small protective barrier built earlier prevented an entire displacement site from being swept away: "Without it, we could have lost lives, not just homes."Shelter, cash, and relief for families who lost everythingYRCS volunteers worked around the clock to provide emergency shelter materials, transitional tents, mattresses, blankets, and cash assistance to help affected families buy food and essential items.Volunteer Lina Mohjib says: "The damage was huge, but the support gave people hope again. Without shelter and cash assistance, many would have had to leave the area completely."Volunteer Khaled Sultan also recalls families sleeping in the open, waiting for help: "People were outside with no shelter and no food. We were able to provide transitional shelters during those first days to protect them from the ongoing rains."Local action, strengthened by timely supportThe August floods in Abs highlighted the importance of local presence, early preparedness, and fast mobilization. Volunteers - many from the same communities affected - moved quickly to reach those in greatest danger.As Dr. Ahmed reflects: "This response strengthened our confidence in our ability to protect people early, before the situation becomes a tragedy."Preparedness and early action like this save lives.To see how the IFRC and its member National Societies help communities act before hazards turn into disasters, explore:• Early warning, early action at IFRC• How the IFRC-DREF supports rapid local response

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Support to the IFRC is not just support to one organization, but to the world’s largest humanitarian network—known and trusted in virtually every country in the world. Discover why you should support our lifesaving work and how you can get involved.

About the IFRC

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest humanitarian network. Our secretariat supports local Red Cross and Red Crescent action in more than 191 countries, bringing together more than 17 million volunteers for the good of humanity.

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Our more than 17 million volunteers worldwide are the beating heart of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). They are our strength. They are what define us. And they help make the world a safer and more peaceful place every single day.

Cape Verde: Red Cross helps flood-affected communities recover and rebuild

Four months ago, the islands of São Vicente and Santo Antão in Cape Verde were hit by torrential rains brought by Tropical Storm Erin. Within hours, streets turned into raging torrents, sweeping away everything in their path.Thousands of homes and critical infrastructure were destroyed or severely damaged. Without strong national and international solidarity, and a rapid, coordinated response, many affected families would not have been able to cope with the impact.In Bela Vista, one of the hardest-hit neighbourhoods of Covada de Bruxa in São Vicente, the visible signs of the floods have slowly faded, but the invisible scars remain.Beyond the appearance of a return to normalcy, thousands of families continue to grapple with the long-term impacts of the disaster, struggling each day to rebuild their lives and restore their dignity.“When the flooding began, I wasn’t at home,” recalls Vera Lucia Andrade, a mother of six and a street vendor. “I ran back to try to save my child, who had stayed behind, and a few belongings, but the water was already everywhere.”A vital emergency responseIn the immediate aftermath of the floods, the Cape Verde Red Cross, supported by the IFRC, sprang into action. Hundreds of volunteers worked alongside local authorities to assist affected communities.The IFRC launched anemergency appeal for 3 million Swiss francs and mobilized 565,000 Swiss francs from its Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF) to support the Cape Verde Red Cross in assisting those affected. Specialized teams, including Emergency Response Units (ERUs), were also deployed to strengthen the response.So far, more than 1,000 families have received assistance, including food kits and essential household items, while over 470 families have benefited from health support. Hygiene promotion activities have also reached more than 8,400 people, helping communities safeguard their health and well-being.Supporting the recovery of the most vulnerable familiesAs the emergency phase gradually transitions to recovery, efforts are now focused on restoring livelihoods. Some 580 households in São Vicente and Santo Antão have begun receiving cash assistance of 26,000 Cape Verdean escudos (CVE), or 235 euros, to help meet their basic needs.For Vera Lucia, head of household, this support is vital.“I truly appreciate the support from the Red Cross,”she says. “As a street vendor, I had not been able to work since the floods. With the money I received, I will be able to restart and expand my small business and provide for my family. I also hope later to build a protective wall behind my house to better withstand future floods.”Beyond cash assistance, the Cape Verde Red Cross, with support from the IFRC, is also helping to rehabilitate community water supply systems severely damaged by the floods in Santo Antão. Restoring these infrastructures is essential to prevent the risk of waterborne diseases and strengthen community resilience.“Here in Ribeira Da Cruz, people rely for potable water from the spring water catchment which has hardly affected,”says Vincenzo Buccheri, Team Leader of the ERU Water Supply Rehabilitation. “Thanks to our Cash for Work program, the community is rehabilitating infrastructure without the need for external contractors,”“We provide the materials, while residents, 50 per cent men and 50 per cent women, carry out the work themselves. This approach not only strengthens community resilience but also ensures sustainable ownership of the infrastructure.”Maintaining the momentum of solidarityFor Julio Mondlane, IFRC Operations Manager in Cape Verde, transitioning from emergency response to recovery requires sustained commitment.“The emergency response met the immediate needs of many communities,”he says. “Now, our priority is to help families recover sustainably and restore their livelihoods, while strengthening the Country Early Warning Early Actions Systems. This takes time, resources, and continued support from donors and partners. Without it, the most vulnerable communities risk remaining trapped in the crisis.”

Large-scale power disruptions in and around Kyiv leave 200,000 people without heating

Kyiv/Budapest/Geneva, 14 January – Ongoing attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and the resulting damage to heating and electricity networks have left large parts of Kyiv and nearby districts without essential services at the height of winter.Around 800 residential buildings in Kyiv City are without heating and electricity, affecting around 200,000 people. Other hard-hit regions include Bucha, Irpin, and Hostomel, where heating systems are almost completely down.The Ukrainian Red Cross, supported by IFRC and other partners, is scaling up its emergency response to support people who have been left in the dark and cold. Red Cross teams, in close coordination with the State Emergency Service, serve hot meals and warm drinks and provide phone charging stations in heating points across the capital and its suburbs, serving around 700 people daily. Psychosocial support is also available, with 10 psychologists and several trained volunteers deployed to assist people.Emergency repairs to energy systems are ongoing, but further attacks on energy infrastructure are likely, meaning humanitarian support will continue to be critical.Spokespeople from IFRC and the Ukrainian Red Cross based in Kyiv are available for interviews. For more information or to set up an interview, please contact: [email protected] Budapest: Nora Peter, +36 70 265 4020In Geneva: India Roberts-Smillie, +41 76 372 6251

Supporting local humanitarian action

The IFRC is committed to supporting humanitarian action that is as local as possible, as international as necessary.Our 191 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are the lead actors in preparing for, responding to and helping communities recover from emergencies. In times of increased need, our global disaster response system effectively supports and coordinates their lifesaving work.

Global Volunteering Alliance

The Global Volunteering Alliance brings together more than 70 Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to discuss current volunteer trends and the future of volunteerism in a changing world.

IFRC Secretary General at United Nations: Humanitarian ‘reset’ requires the sector to be ‘as local as possible, as international as necessary’

Under discussion was what the humanitarian sector should do to reform at a time of deep cuts in humanitarian funding and mounting needs. [A video of the session can be found here, with remarks from the IFRC Secretary General appearingat about 1 hour 30 minutes into the video]."Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. Thank you, Tom [Fletcher,Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator at the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs], for that great introduction and wonderful speech earlier.On your question [from the moderator, “What do you hope will be key elements of the approach to humanitarian work after the reset?] of course, you heard a lot on the sort of collective reset that Tom had been talking about in the morning, and just now. I would like to share a perspective from IFRC.ListeningAlready late last year, we had initiated the process of listening even before the current funding crisis became so prominent. Because what we believe is that it's extremely important for the organizations to have that humility on a regular basis, to have that check, that whether we are up to date or not. It's not about being good or bad.I think as the Red Cross, I believe we have always been very good, but there are always opportunities to gain efficiency, cost-effectiveness and [extend the] reach of our program.And as part of that process, we listened to more than 2,000 voices, more than half of them from the local communities. And there are a few ideas emerging which very much align with the Reset process we have been discussing, more broadly as a humanitarian sector.Deepen localization and accountabilityOne of the first things that came out from that is that the humanitarian system after the reset would be very local, but it is local with accountability, and the accountability, not in the sense of just pushing the risks to the local actors, for sharing the risk, but delivering in an accountable manner.And it's really about the decision-making at the local level. And I think the colleague from Afghanistan [a previous speaker], what she said is that you don't need to push us from abroad. We're already there. And somehow, we have this notion that we need to put the local actor in the front. No, they're already there. We need to follow them. And I think we need to have the courage to follow the local actors who are already there.And also, we do need, you know, as IFRC, we have been championing the localization, we also believe that the global solidarity is needed in many places. But when we do that global solidarity, I think it's really, really important that now we walk the talk: both the donors' community and us as the international organization.We [donors and agencies of Grand Bargain] committed 25 per cent of the internationally mobilized funding that goes to the local actors — we have received only 2 per cent collectively.That must not be good enough for us. Otherwise, we'll keep on talking. So, this is in our hands to change that, nobody is stopping us to make that happen. So, let's make that happen. And just to share with you, colleagues, that in the IFRC we are going to step up that target to 75 per cent. We will not be satisfied with 25 per cent. That's the push we want to make.Sharpen humanitarian focus and collaborationNow, the second message that is coming is, I think, the humanitarian system and as an organization, I think we've got to have more collaboration, as you said Tom, no silos, no egos.But at the same time, we also need to be much more conscious about our own mission creeps. Sometimes we establish complicated coordination mechanisms. And maybe those were not needed if we are not doing the mission creep ourselves.We do mission creeps, and it becomes complicated. We overlap each other, then we create a complicated mechanism to say that: “Oh, actually we should not be doing the mission creeps.”So, I think we need that focus, humanitarian focus. Humanitarian focus and really, really be the discipline… ourselves, so that the Tom’s life becomes very easy and maybe not needed. I think, I think if we can make jobs — Tom's job redundant — we would have succeeded! And we do need to diversify our financing approaches and models. And I think in IFRC, we are taking some really innovative financing modalities, but we have to take it to scale.Redouble humanitarian diplomacy efforts to influence humanitarian causesThird one is the real issue around management diplomacy: around how we preserve, how we preserve our medical space? How do we protect our humanitarian workers? How do we uphold our principles and the international norms? And I think collectively, again, we have to push for this. So, our call to the government, to the states: I think you really have to uphold your friends accountable, as much as you do to your foes.In the current system, the system jumps very much to hold your foes accountable, not always your friends accountable. And for me, until and unless we have the courage to held our friends accountable, we will not overcome the sense of impunity that we are seeing around the world. And I think the discipline that we need from the humanitarian workers is that we should not pretend to be the placing responsibility of the states.Most of the crisis that we are seeing now and the pressure on the humanitarian organizations is growing because there haven’t been many political solutions to many of the crises we are dealing with now. Until and unless there are political solutions to these crises, the humanitarians even if we get 200 billion, we will not be able to address those issues. There must be political solutions.Accelerate digital transformation and ethical adoption of AINow the fourth is we are also living in a digital age. So, I think we as an organization, as a humanitarian system, we also have to adapt to digitalization and ethical adoption of artificial intelligence. And this my son asked me to put that in – he is an artificial intelligence student!An organization that delivers more effectively and efficiently with a culture for transformationAnd then finally… Finally, I think it’s extremely important that we as an organization have the capacity and the culture of transformation. The days of 5 years plans, and 10 years plans are gone. Things are changing so rapidly, even the 1-year plans are no longer relevant.You have to update your plan already less than 6 months. And we can address that only because the reset humanitarian system has both culture and capacity of transformation, and that humility I talked about before. Changing or accepting the weakness is not the wrong thing. It’s not weakness, it’s strength. Only strong people, strong organization, has the ability to do that.True Reset = LocalSo, colleagues, we are here with different rules, experiences, and perspectives, but with only one shared interest.Tom, I am repeating you: how we can work together to better serve our humanity. If we are serious about transforming the humanitarian response, then we must be serious about shifting power, resources, and responsibility - closer to the people we aim to serve. That means local.Local. Local and Local.But local with global solidarity. As local as possible, as international as necessary. So, a true humanitarian reset, from the perspective of IFRC, is threefold: leading with humanity, acting with foresight, and delivering with accountability. All that comes best with local at the core. Thank you so much."

Local, Everywhere

Rooted in communities, present in 191 countries, and backed by global coordination and influence. These are the essential elements that define the IFRC Network of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and its 16 million community based volunteers. Trusted, local faces delivering life-saving support before, during and after crisis, in every corner of the globe. At a time when the humanitarian sector is under scrutiny, we are proving every day that our local, everywhere presence is having a life-saving and life-changing impact.

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The IFRC has set up an alumni association for the thousands of dedicated colleagues who have given a significant part of their lives to the IFRC—whether at headquarters, on mission or in country.