In the face of heatwaves and flooding, the Mexican Red Cross and the Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance are promoting local solutions to measure and strengthen community resilience

This is an adaptation of the original article written by Brenda Ávila Flores, Francisco Gabriel Reyes Gil, Jessica Rosales, Karla Hernandez, and Daniela Aguilar, published on December 15, 2025.Mexico is vulnerable to a variety of climate-related risks. These include droughts in the northern desert region, frosts in the north-west and north-east, heavy rainfall in the south, and tropical cyclones along the coast.According to Mexico’s National Centre for Disaster Prevention, approximately 80 per cent of disaster-related costs in Mexico between 2000 and 2022 were associated with water-related events. Flooding in the country has consistently caused damage to infrastructure, loss of life, displacement of communities and economic losses.Heat waves are also common in Mexico during the summer; however, the National Water Commission reports that most of the country has experienced above-average temperatures due to climate change.Two contrasting locations are Mexicali and Veracruz (Sotavento). These locations differ widely in terms of their geography, the threats they face, their vulnerabilities and their capacities.Mexicali is an urban centre on the northern border where people work in agriculture, industry and services, but face extreme heat, scarce rainfall and limited cooling options.In contrast, peri-urban and rural communities in the Sotavento region depend on agriculture, experience abundant rainfall and have access to river systems. However, they are constantly exposed to flooding and tropical cyclones.Climate Resilience Measurement for CommunitiesIn recent months, the Mexican Red Cross has used the Climate Resilience Measurement for Communities (CRMC) framework to guide a holistic and participatory process. The CRMC is a data-driven process that help communities evaluate and measure their resilience to climate hazards. And then, using the results, they can identify and implement resilience-building interventions and run additional measurements to track improvements.This measurement process included people's concerns about flooding in Veracruz communities, as well as the health implications of heat-related vector-borne diseases in Mexicali. The framework enables context-specific information on climate resilience to be obtained. By linking local knowledge with regional action, the Mexican Red Cross and its partners are addressing the immediate risks of extreme heat and flooding while also shaping systemic solutions for Mexico's future.The programme works with local populations to strengthen flood resilience at household and community levels by implementing interventions such as forming community brigades, developing family emergency plans and raising risk awareness through community resilience fairs.In both rural and urban areas, the Mexican Red Cross facilitates collaboration and integration with various sectors, including health, education, universities, and civil protection. This knowledge and experience is shared with communities, professionals, and political leaders, and is used to promote better laws, policies, and plans.Heat wavesIn recent years, Mexicali has experienced record temperatures in summer and an increasing number of heat waves. In 2024 alone, 47 deaths were directly attributed to extreme heat, marking a notable rise compared to previous years. This trend highlights the urgent need to address extreme heat as a critical public health issue.In Mexicali, families and workers depend on improved infrastructure and protective equipment, such as air conditioning, thermally insulated buildings and public cooling centres. This is not only to safeguard their health, but also to maintain their livelihoods and economic activities.However, air conditioning is not accessible to all, and marginalised communities often experience power outages, which increases their vulnerability. This highlights the need to explore affordable, accessible alternative cooling solutions to ensure heat protection for the most vulnerable. The assessment conducted through the CRMC identified opportunities to improve understanding of, and implementation of, Nature-Based Solutions (NbS), which protect, manage and restore ecosystems in order to address climate challenges.“There is no single approach to increasing climate resilience”.Mexican Red Cross Resilience Programme TeamHurricanes and stormsThe municipalities of the Sotavento region in Veracruz are regularly affected by hurricanes and tropical cyclones. These events bring heavy rainfall, which causes flooding in the basin and in low-lying areas. A key factor in the region's resilience is the presence of community brigades: local groups trained in disaster preparedness and response. The CRMC analysis identified an opportunity to strengthen these brigades by providing them with training and coordination, and by linking them to Early Warning Systems (EWS), which currently have limited reach at the local level. This will ensure that the most vulnerable groups receive timely information that will prompt life-saving actions and reduce losses and damage. “While each community has its own particular circumstances, the CRMC's research in multiple communities reveals trends in the impact of floods and extreme heat on social and economic structures”.Mexican Red Cross Resilience Programme TeamA collaborative approachThe CRMC process generates localised, up-to-date information that provides valuable insight into both gaps and opportunities.The Mexican Red Cross uses these findings to design and implement resilience actions that address real needs while strengthening existing capacities. Guided by the programme's objectives, the Mexican Red Cross works to integrate climate resilience with disaster risk management and expand access to SAT for floods and heat among the most vulnerable populations. These findings emphasise the importance of promoting context-specific resilience measures and influencing local and regional stakeholders to address shared challenges.In implementing the CRMC, the Mexican Red Cross adopted an innovative approach to data collection, adapted to urban contexts and designed to protect staff and volunteers in complex environments. Rather than conducting door-to-door surveys, resilience fairs were organised in Mexicali and Veracruz. These events brought community members together to participate actively in measuring the CRMC and in interactive activities designed to raise awareness of the risks in their territories. Additionally, data was collected through focus groups and interviews with key stakeholders. These included community leaders and government authorities from various civil protection organisations.This timely engagement enabled critical stakeholders and potential partners to become involved from the outset, thereby building trust and credibility. This engagement continues today as the Mexican Red Cross communicates the main results of the CRMC to decision-makers and communities, strengthening shared responsibility, empowering local actors to lead resilience efforts and ensuring that actions are appropriated by those most affected.To complement the actions of the Mexican Red Cross at a local level, the IFRC will work to ensure that the lessons learned from this initiative are recognised, adopted and replicated internationally in various strategic areas.

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.

Alliance for the Amazon: For a resilient and sustainable future

Protecting the Amazonian cocoa: innovation, science and early warning from the Ecuadorian Red Cross

In the Ecuadorian Amazon, where the rainforest is integrated into every aspect of life and culture, cacao is more than just a crop; it is a source of sustenance and a tradition.Ecuador is the world's third-largest exporter of fine aroma cocoa, a product that sweetens our palates, drives the local economy, and supports thousands of families in the Zamora Chinchipe region of the Amazon, near the border with Peru.However, cocoa crops are under threat from climate change and phenomena such as El Niño. In major cocoa-exporting countries such as Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, extreme rainfall and prolonged droughts have led to the emergence of pests that have wiped out entire plantations.When plantations are lost, chocolate production declines, poverty increases, and food security is compromised. In this multi-threat scenario, timely information and anticipation can mean the difference between losing or saving a crop.To protect cocoa in the Amazon rainforest, two young volunteers from the Ecuadorian Red Cross branch in Zamora Chinchipe have combined science, innovation and local knowledge to design an Early Warning System to help cocoa-growing families anticipate risks and plan preventive actions.One of the two young women who promoted this initiative is Josselyn Balcázar. She is very clear about the problems facing cocoa-producing communities:‘The problem we identified is the vulnerability of cocoa producers due to the empirical management of their plantations, which does not take into account meteorological measurements in the context of climate change impacts,’ she explains.Technology to the rescue of cocoaThis Early Warning System is called SATHEOBROMA, which refers to theobroma, the scientific name for the cocoa plant. The project was launched in 2023 thanks to the Limitless programme of the Solferino Academy.‘It is a mini weather station that records precipitation, temperature, humidity and other variables daily. This information helps producers to understand when pests are likely to appear, enabling them to take appropriate measures and avoid losing their crops,’ explains Verónica Andrade, national climate change adaptation technician at the Ecuadorian Red Cross.The information is analysed to detect conditions that favour the proliferation of pests such as the well-known monilia, which can destroy entire plantations.While the initiative cannot stop the rains or prevent droughts, it does enable action to be taken before the problem escalates into a disaster. Producers receive alerts so they can act quickly and prevent losses from spreading.‘It's crucial to bring this technology to the field because without local information, we can't prevent problems,’ says Oswaldo Castillo, a Shuar cocoa technician.‘This is a very important initiative so that we can take timely action and avoid low yields,’ says Bolívar Flores, a local producer.A pilot version of the system was installed on one farm to demonstrate its functionality, before being expanded to two more farms. The Ecuadorian Red Cross plans to roll it out more widely in future to benefit additional cocoa-producing communities in the area.The initiative has even caught the interest of local institutions.'With the support of technology and technical assistance, we must prepare so that, when effects occur, we can mitigate and counteract them,' said Karla Reátegui, Prefect of Zamora Chinchipe.'From the prefecture, we also reaffirm our willingness to coordinate actions that will allow us to continue expanding the benefits to more farms and producers,' she concluded.Climate change will continue to present challenges, but with tools such as SATHEOBROMA, agricultural families are not alone.In a world where weather events are increasingly unpredictable, early warning systems are essential for ensuring food security and enabling communities to adapt.This initiative demonstrates that involving communities in decision-making allows us to identify and plan preventive measures, prepare for and respond effectively to multiple crises and disasters, and ensure that resources are directed to those who need them most.

From grain to gain: A story of women’s empowerment and food security in Cameroon

At first glance, Kartoua may seem like any other rural village in the Mayo-Danay division. But this border community, vulnerable to seasonal floods and food insecurity, has become the stage for a quiet revolution led by women.Twelve women came together to form the Soubota Common Initiative Group (GIC). Their mission: to fight food scarcity by creating a cereal bank that buys millet and rice at low prices after harvest, stores them, and resells them during the lean season at affordable, community-friendly rates.“When we started, many didn’t believe in us, especially the men,” says Ahmadou Sergeline, a mother of nine, farmer, and president of the Soubota women’s cereal bank. “But over time, as they saw how we were helping the village, everything changed. Even my husband now supports and advises me.”From scarcity to sustainable strategy“When the floods hit, millet became impossible to find,” Sergeline recalls. “But thanks to the Red Cross support, we had 20 sacks ready. Every morning, women would line up with small bowls, buying just enough to feed their children.”The support came at a crucial time. The Cameroon Red Cross provided the women’s group with 20 bags of millet, along with training in stock management and basic accounting.“Before, we didn’t keep proper records. Now we have ledgers for everything — what comes in, what goes out, and what belongs to whom. People even entrust us with their own cereal bags, which we store safely for a small fee.”Equity first: feeding the most vulnerable“We made rules to protect the poorest,” explains Sergeline. “We limited purchases to four measures per household, and we refused to sell to wealthier buyers just looking for bargains. We know our community. We know who truly needs help.”Grains are sold directly at the warehouse, always below market prices. This solidarity pricing ensured that widows, the elderly, and female-headed households could make it through the lean season with dignity.The initial stock was only the beginning. Revenues from the first sales were used to purchase 45 new sacks of rice, allowing the cycle to continue. After sharing the dividends from the sales, the group decided to reinvest all profits into the next round of cereal purchases.“We put everything back into stock because we saw that demand was even higher than expected,” Sergeline explains.Normally, profits would be transparently allocated to different committees responsible for various activities:50 per cent to the management committee (day-to-day running of the GIC),30 per cent to the community hygiene committee,20 per cent to cereal restocking.But in a strong show of collective responsibility, the entire committee agreed to reinvest their shares, strengthening the group’s next cycle.More than grain: a space for growth and leadershipCereal banks like the one in Kartoua are one of many initiatives supported by the Programmatic Partnership between the IFRC network and the European Union. The partnership provides strategic, flexible, predictable, and long-term funding, so that National Societies can act before a crisis or health emergency occurs. It is being implemented in 24 countries around the world.In this case, the Cameroon Red Cross also works alongside the Soubota Common Initiative Group to support their activities, with the French Red Cross teams also working as an implementing partner.For Sergeline and the women of Kartoua, the cereal bank has become a safe space — a platform to learn, grow, and lead.“When we meet, we don’t just talk about millet. We talk about running our households, educating our daughters, strengthening our marriages. I have seven girls. I want them to see that women can lead too.”The training and engagement provided by Red Cross teams empowered the women not only technically, but also emotionally and socially.“They didn’t just bring us grain. They brought us respect. They listened to us. They saw us not as beneficiaries, but as partners.”“It wasn’t just food. It was dignity,” adds Marie, a grandmother who bought grain from the cereal bank during the lean season. “I didn’t have to beg. I bought what I could afford, and I fed my grandchildren.”“We are asking for more support,” Sergeline says. “Not just for us, but for the whole village. The needs are huge. But the solution is here — it just needs to be strengthened.”Her dream is clear: to ensure that no family goes hungry during the next flood or lean season. In the hands of women like Sergeline, a sack of millet becomes a shield against hunger, a symbol of dignity, and a seed for the future.

Remote mountainside communities in Nepal: the key source for sustainable solutions in post-earthquake water initiative

The devastating earthquake that struck Nepal in November 2023 not only damaged or destroyed over 75,000 homes and disrupted the livelihood of thousands of people, it also severely damaged critical water sources that communities rely on for everyday survival.In many places, the Karnali earthquake, as it’s called here, altered the local geology enough it disrupted long-time underground water channels. In many cases, springs and wells dried up, or shifted downhill to another location, due to the shifting ground caused by the earthquake.On top of that, the earthwyake severely damaged the infrastructure that brought water to people’s homes and communities. For many communities, this has meant washing, cooking, and irrigating with a lot less available water.To get at the source of the challenge, the Nepal Red Cross Society went directly to the impacted communities. As part of its Karnali Earthquake Response and Recovery Operation, theNepal Red Cross has been working closely with remote rural mountainside communities to create new water sources and systems.From the beginning, the construction of safe drinking water sources involved extensive consultations with local water-use committees, formed to lead the process and ensure that system design is based on a thorough understanding or how and where communities need water delivered.Because most of the intensive household users of water are women, there was significant and enthusiastic female participation, with women taking on important roles of the water committees. One of those women is Mani kumari Khatri, who worked along with her neighbours and the NRCS during the construction of the water supply system.“We now have water from our household tap even after a dry winter this year,”says Mani Kumari Khatri, a local resident of Rukum West. “This water scheme has also provided additional opportunities to grow vegetables in kitchen garden which can be our food, or we can generate some income by selling those vegetables in local market.”“The Red Cross recognised our need for the water and supported the entire building of the water scheme in our community,” she adds. “They worked together with the community to complete the scheme that now benefits twenty-four houses.” With the support of IFRC network, the NRCS supported several communities with safe drinking water systems, along with help with repairs and maintenance in all three earthquake affected districts of Karnali province (Jajarkot, Rukum West and Salyan). In total, this operation has has so far led to:Construction of 23 water supply projects, out of which 16 were repair and maintenance of the existing systems, and 7 were newly constructed.A total of 951 households (322 Jajarkot, 397 Rukum West and 232 Salyan) benefited from these schemes.These efforts are meant to complement the Nepal government’s nationwide implementation of its “One house, one tap” policy as well as the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets for universal access to safe drinking water by 2030.Getting involved in water scheme constructionHajari Oli is another representative among many who have actively contributed to the construction of water supply scheme. As the committee that was formed, Hajari was appointed treasurer. Besides managing the financial expenses for the water supply scheme, she regularly provided much-needed input in the construction of the water scheme, including a lot of hands-on work with many aspects of the building process.“Our village lies at the top of the hill and remains mostly dry, so we, especially the women, have to take a time-consuming trip to collect and fetch water for drinking and for other household purposes,” says Hajari Oli.Now with the support from Nepal Red Cross, the community is constructing two water reservoir tanks and drinking water will soon be available at household level. “We are very happy and excited with this support from the Red Cross. After it is completed, we will use water for drinking as well as for irrigation,” she adds.Local women also helped to collect and manage locally obtained materials, and participated in pipe laying, digging ground, and active leadership in the water user committee.“We had formed a group and divided the responsibility as per our abilities,”says Bhadi Kumari, a member of the committee. “Everyone from the community, including many older people came out together to contribute with great enthusiasm.”Many community members were also able to contribute their own technical skills and experience. A plumbing technician by trade, Karna has over 30 years of experience in water supply systems under his belt and has been involved in the construction of more than 250 water schemes and reservoir tank building.For this reason, the community commissioned him to help with the construction of the two water schemes in Rukum West district, especially for the building of reservoir tanks and plumbing works.“I had received training on water supply scheme construction a long time ago,”says Karna. “From then onwards, I have been working continuously in constructions of the water schemes in many communities including in the neighbouring districts.”Experienced technicians like Karna were not the only ones that were engaged for the construction of the water scheme but opportunities were also provided to young aspiring students like Bibek so that they can acquire practical hands-on skills and exposure.“I got the opportunity to work as technical volunteer for the Red Cross and it was a privilege to serve my community,”says Bibek, technician from Jajarkot. “In addition, I gained practical experience which expanded my knowledge and confidence.”The Water Safety Plan includes the provision of the maintenance fund, caretaker/plumber and include agreed monthly tariff collection from the users, based on the consumption of water through meter reading.From the beginning, it was clear that the local communities shared the NRCS goal of creating durable solutions.“I am voluntarily leading the construction of the water supply scheme in my community,”says Ram Karki, Chairperson of Water User Committee of Jajarkot. “I want to make this scheme work for generations, as we have faced a lot of challenges for safe drinking water before. We have set water pipeline from more than 8 KM from tough terrain in search of quality and durability of source for this scheme.”Transparency and accountabilityIn Karnali Earthquake Recovery Operation, all the construction of the schemes were done in the leadership of the water user committees. From the beginning of the construction work, NRCS had shared the amount of contribution from the organisation as well as from the community.NRCS had organised public audits in the presence of the community members and local stakeholders before handing over the schemes to the communities. During these public audits, detailed expenditure reports were shared. Information boards with detailed budgets were also put up at construction sites for wider information dissemination and transparency.

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."

Ready for the rains: Philippine Red Cross scales up emergency preparedness ahead of typhoon season

As the Philippines prepares for another rainy season, which typically sees an average of 20 typhoons each year—of which eight to nine make landfall—the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) is once again taking the lead in disaster preparedness and response. Supported by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and its membership, PRC is intensifying its efforts to protect the country's most vulnerable communities.According to the 2024 World Risk Index (WRI), the Philippines has been ranked as the most disaster-prone country in the world for the 16th consecutive year, facing a complex array of threats including typhoons, earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, and conflicts. In anticipation of these challenges, the PRC has strategically prepositioned life-saving resources and activated community-based volunteer networks across the nation.“Preparedness saves lives, and PRC’s readiness today is a reflection of decades of investment in local capacity, supported by Movement partners,” said Gwendolyn Pang, Secretary General of the Philippine Red Cross.The PRC operates through its 101 chapters and a 24/7 Operations Centre, coordinating more than a million trained volunteers and staff. With support from the IFRC’s Disaster Response Emergency Fund (IFRC-DREF), the PRC has increased its warehouse stock of relief items, ready for rapid deployment through its extensive logistics fleet, which includes eight regional warehouses, 140 ambulances, 29 water tankers, 36 food trucks, amphibious vehicles, rescue boats, response motorcycles, as well as a dedicated drone and satellite internet communications network. In addition, the organization maintains 17 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) hubs equipped with mobile purification systems and emergency water bladders—crucial resources as storm surges and floods increasingly impact coastal communities and landslide situations in mountainous areas.Emergency medical services have been fully mobilized, featuring three field hospitals, 128 medical tents, and 5,700 medical corps volunteers. These services are supported by 109 blood facilities, mobile health units and vaccination buses, along with agreements with the Department of Health and private transport companies to enhance mass casualty readiness. Central to the PRC's efforts is its Red Cross 143 program, which trains local leaders and at least 44 volunteers in each barangay (village). This grassroots network is essential for disseminating early warning messages, conducting rapid assessments, and providing first response during typhoons, floods, and landslides.Furthermore, PRC has pioneered anticipatory action with Early Action Protocols (EAPs) for typhoons and floods, enabling interventions up to 72 hours before a disaster strikes. In 2024 alone, shelter strengthening kits were installed in advance of Typhoon Marce in Cagayan and Super Typhoon Pepito in Aurora, Quirino, Isabela, and Northern Samar, minimizing damage and protecting families.These proactive measures have been made possible through the IFRC’s anticipatory funding mechanisms, which allocated nearly CHF 535,000 for readiness and pre-emptive relief. The Philippine Red Cross’s ability to act swiftly relies on the continued support of its partners.From early action financing to long-term resilience programming, sustained investments are necessary to keep communities safe as climate threats intensify.“We’re proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with PRC,” said Sanjeev Kafley, Head IFRC Country Delegation. “Their leadership in anticipatory action and community preparedness is not only saving lives but also setting a global benchmark.” He added “In light of the six consecutive cyclones in six weeks' time span that impacted the country last year, it is imperative that we collectively strengthen coordination among all stakeholders. Doing so will ensure effective resource mobilization and timely dissemination of critical information to those most in need. We reiterate the need to reinforce collaboration, invest in preparedness, and remain proactive in safeguarding the most vulnerable populations.”As the skies darken and storms loom, the Philippine Red Cross stands ready—not just to respond, but to take action before, during, and after disasters strike. Always first, always ready, always there.

‘I know what it takes to experience that level of vulnerability’ – IFRC’s new regional director for Africa talks about the challenges ahead 

What does it take to manage humanitarian crisis response for a massive continent dealing with a wide range of challenges – conflict, mass population movements, epidemics, tropical storms, drought and a widespread hunger crisis. Find out how IFRC’s new regional director for Africa, Charles Businge, plans to tackle these challenges and how his upbringing in Uganda shaped him for the task ahead. “I have seen war and fighting between different armed groups and I have worked in similar contexts,” he tells us. “So, I am committed to supporting people who faced these kinds of vulnerabilities, because I know what it takes to experience that level of vulnerability.”

Benin and Togo: Burning less, planting more and combatting climate change one meal at a time — welcome to the ‘Mothers Club’

In the remote corners of Benin and Togo, a transformation is taking place.With support from the Benin and Togo Red Cross Societies, groups of mothers have joined forces to deliver life-changing interventions that mitigatethe impacts ofclimate change,combat deforestation, improve nutrition andimprove people’s health.Welcome to the Mothers’ Clubs of Benin and Togo, where women are joining forces with local volunteers, young students, teachers and others to reduce fuel consumption, plant trees and sew crops adapted to shorter growing seasons,One of the key projects involves the way food is prepared in many rural communities.Womenin the Mothers’ Clubs, for example,are being trained tomakeand use improved cookstoves, which reduce firewood consumption and harmful smoke. This innovation not only eases their daily struggles but also curbs deforestation and air pollution.“Before, we used stoves made of stones, which caused us a lot of trouble,” says Dgniri Ouseni, a community member from Kara, Togo. “Those stoves consumed so much firewood, and firewood was becoming scarce.”“With these new energy-efficient stoves, one piece of firewood is enough to cook a meal. Our struggles have been reduced.”Beyond improved cookstoves, training in disaster preparedness, short-cycle seed farming, and reforestation have empowered communities to tackle climate challenges head-on.Mothers' Clubs are not unique to Togo and Benin. Set up by women in local communities with support from the Red Cross, they respond to the particular challenges their communities are facing.In Nigeria, Mothers Clubs address acute malnutrition by teaching new mothers about the importance of breastfeeding and better ways to use local cereals. Mothers Club members also become Red Cross volunteers and usually have a Red Cross coordinator who supports their activities.In Benin, they also supported efforts to plant over 21,000 trees in schools, villages, and communal areas. These trees are true multi-taskers: They combat soil erosion and provide nutritional and economic benefits, are symbols of hope.“They welcomed the initiative warmly. On the day we began planting the trees, we couldn’t manage the rush, everyone wanted to participate, including the teachers,” recalls Fagnihou Kokouvi, Deputy Headmaster of CEG Abomey.The trees’ benefits extend beyond the present.“The impact on future generations is obvious,”notes Frabrice Soutin, the local Red Cross President in Abomey. “Two or three years from now, the children on this field will benefit from the shade of these trees to protect them from the sun.”Across both countries, volunteers and community leaders have received training on disaster preparedness, climate resilience, and natural resource management.In Togo, the Togolese Red Cross supported 920 members of Mothers' Clubs and Men’s Committees, fostering environmental awareness and sustainable practices.“The Mothers’ Clubs were trained on techniques for making improved stoves and on how to avoid cutting down trees unnecessarily,” says Addom Aklesso, project manager for the Togo Red Cross. “They’ve also learned to monitor local indicators that signal floods, so they can prepare their villages.”In addition to these climate-focused interventions, displaced households and vulnerable families in northern Benin received life-saving aid, including food kits, cooking tools, and mosquito nets.Training in short-cycle seeds like maize and tomatoes – which produce fruit relatively quickly – has enhanced food security despite increasingly unpredictable weather patterns that have shortened the usual growing season.With funding from the Bureau for Humanitarian Affairs (BHA) of USAID and support from the IFRC, these projects have reached thousands, from volunteers and mothers’ clubs to schoolchildren and displaced families.For Aklesso Quentin Adom, who leads the project for the Togo Red Cross in the north of Togo, the progress so far gives him hope.“If all these plants are maintained and they reach maturity, this will allow us to have good rainfall in the locality, in the region,” he says. “Beyond that, communities will be more resilient, poverty will be reduced because at the level of mothers' clubs and men's committees, we will identify the income-generating activities of members to enable them to participate in the needs of the household. This is the long-term impact that all these interventions will have in local communities.”

Early warning systems only way to begin tackling unprecedented number of Philippines typhoons

Manila/ Kuala Lumpur/ Geneva, 18 November:Six tropical typhoons have hit the Philippines in a month in an unprecedented pattern of extreme weather, not seen since records in the Pacific basin began in 1951. While the overall impact caused by the latest Super Typhoon Man-Yi (local name Pepito) is still being assessed, the previous five typhoons - Trami (Kristine), Kong-Rey (Leon), Yin-Xing (Marce), Toraji (Nika) and Usagi (Ofel) - have already caused extensive destruction across the region, bringing torrential rains, landslides, widespread flooding and damage to infrastructure and livelihoods, stretching local resources to their maximum. Over 1.4 million displaced people have faced limited access to water, sanitation, nutrition and health care. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is urgently appealing for more aid, increasing its initialEmergency Appeal for 7.5 million Swiss Francs, launched for Typhoon Trami, to 9 million Swiss Francs with the aim of enabling the Philippine Red Cross to widen its scope of assistance to over 86,000 people in the 12 most impacted provinces by allsix typhoons.Dr. Gwendolyn Pang, Secretary General of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), said: “While providing lifesaving support, we have initiated early actions to help at-risk communities to reduce damage. But no one can be well prepared for such an unprecedented number of storms in this short span of time. We need help to reduce the humanitarian impacts of these typhoons.” She also pointed out that the PRC has been responding to disasters from the beginning, alongside local authorities, to meet the immediate needs of the most vulnerable communities.Gopal Mukherjee, Programme Coordinator and IFRC Acting Head of Delegation for the Philippines highlighted the urgent need for more aid as local resources are stretched thin, including that of the Philippine Red Cross:“Already the recovery of impacted communities is interrupted by these typhoons and their compounding effects. The humanitarian situation is worsening as Super Typhoon Man-Yi is making its impact,” he added.For more information or to request an interview, please contact: [email protected] In Kuala Lumpur: Lili Chin: +60 162340872In Geneva: Hannah Copeland, +41 76 236 91 09

Uganda Ebola outbreak 2022: The importance of safe and dignified burials

In countries around the world, burial rituals—whether cultural, traditional, or religious—are an important way of honouring the dead and helping people grieve. For many communities, special burial practices enable them to bid farewell to their loved ones in a respectful and meaningful way.Losing someone is never easy. But what if someone you love passes away, and you’re told that the burial traditions your community holds dear may put you all in danger?This is what happened to people in Mubende, Uganda, in September 2022 when the country declared its first outbreak of Ebola in more than a decade. The government barred communities from burying their loved ones due to the risks involved, declaring that burials should be managed by trained safe and dignified burial teams.Ebola is a cruel disease. Deadly when left untreated, and highly contagious, it’s transmitted from person to person through direct contact and bodily fluids. When someone is infected, their families and friends are unable to provide hands-on care. And when someone dies from Ebola, their body continues to be highly contagious for up to seven days, meaning that safe and dignified burial measures must be followed to prevent further infection.Kuteesa Samuel from Mubende knows this all too well. He lost his wife of 20 years, Monica, to Ebola during the 2022 outbreak. Monica was seven months pregnant at the time, meaning Samuel also lost his unborn child.In Samuel’s culture, it’s customary to wash and wrap the body of the deceased. And if a pregnant woman dies in the community, tradition dictates that the foetus is buried in a separate grave. But during Ebola, these practices would have posed a deadly threat to people’s health.Knowing this, the Uganda Red Cross Society were poised to step in.Local, known, trustedUganda Red Cross staff and volunteers are part of the fabric of society in Uganda. They come from the communities they serve, follow the same local customs, and have a deep understanding of people’s needs and sensitivities when disaster strikes.They therefore understood why Samuel’s community felt scared, confused, and reluctant to abandon their traditions.But following sensitive, patient, and repeated engagement from local Red Cross volunteers—who worked hand-in-hand with local health authorities and community leaders—Samuel’s community agreed to a compromise. Monica’s body was left intact and safely buried by trained Red Cross teams following strict health and safety protocols. While a banana flower was symbolically buried in a separate grave to mark the loss of Samuel’s unborn child. “After the health workers engaged and explained everything to us, we came to an understanding. […] If it wasn’t for Uganda Red Cross, we would not even know where the deceased would be buried. They helped us to bury the deceased to ensure we don’t get infected. So, we greatly appreciate the Red Cross,” explains Samuel.Preparedness saves livesSince the last Ebola outbreak in 2012, the Uganda Red Cross Society had worked hard to improve its preparedness for future health emergencies and strengthen its auxiliary role supporting the Ministry of Health during disease outbreaks.With support from the IFRC through the USAID-funded Community Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness Programme (CP3), as well as through an Ebola preparedness emergency appeal (2018-2021) and a Disaster Response Emergency Fund (IFRC-DREF) operation (2018-2020), they undertook lots of different preparedness activities across different parts of the country.Emergency preparedness involves planning for the worst, so one of those activities was developing a pool of qualified safe and dignified burials trainers and teams across the country. These teams were ready to be deployed immediately to support communities like Samuel’s when the 2022 Ebola outbreak began.“CP3 was so instrumental to this response. We were only able to respond on time because we had done preparations. We already had prepared teams, and this enabled us to swiftly respond,” explains Dr Joseph Kasumba, Community Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness Officer with the Uganda Red Cross who led the response.Humanity in the darkest of momentsDuring the 2022 Ebola outbreak, Uganda Red Cross teams conducted a total of 512 safe and dignified burials. These efforts contributed to the outbreak being declared over in a record four months.What’s harder to quantify is the emotional support and meaningful care that Red Cross teams provided to communities in perhaps the worst moments of their lives. For that, here’s some powerful testimony from those affected by Ebola, or involved in the response:“When it comes to Ebola Virus Disease, communities always need someone they can trust, people they can identify with. And the fact that the Red Cross is always part of the community... we know what cultural practices are done. We know what the community wants us to do and they feel confident identifying with us, even in that time of grief and sorrow.” - Dr Joseph Kasumba“We really thank the health workers because they taught us how to protect ourselves. We are still grateful for what they did. It was a miracle for us.” - Janet, Mubende resident“Since Ebola started in Mubende, it is the Red Cross that has walked with us. Every community knows Red Cross here. We appreciate you for the work you’ve done. The people of Mubende appreciate you for offering your lives to stand in the gap and save lives.” - Rosemary Byabashaija – Resident District Commissioner in MubendeIf you found this story interesting and would like to learn more:Visit the Uganda Red Cross Society websiteClick here to learn more about the Community Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness Programme (CP3). Funded by USAID, CP3 supports communities, National Societies, and other partners in seven countries to prepare for, prevent, detect, and respond to disease threats.Sign up to the IFRC’s Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness Newsletter.

World Malaria Day: Volunteer goes the last mile to save baby boy’s life in Sierra Leone

Baindu Momoh is a mother from Gbaigibu in Kailahun district, eastern Sierra Leone. Her village is so small and remote it doesn’t show up on most maps—but that doesn’t stop the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society from looking out for the health of her community.In October 2023, Baindu came rushing to her local Red Cross volunteer, Joseph. Something was deeply wrong. Her baby boy, Senesie, had a fever, was sweating and vomiting, and had a puffy face and eyes. Baindu feared for his life.Thankfully, Joseph is part of the Community Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness Programme (CP3) and is trained in how to detect, report, and respond to disease threats—meaning he knew exactly what to do.“I have established strong relationships with both the health facility and the community. When the child’s mother reached out to me in distress, I immediately recognized the urgency of the situation,” explains Joseph.In the absence of timely local ambulance services, Joseph rushed Baindu and her baby on his motorbike to the nearest Community Health Post in Woroma, where Senesie was diagnosed with severe malaria and anaemia. Baindu was told that, to survive, Senesie needed an urgent blood transfusion—only available at the Kailahun Government Hospital, some 30 miles away.Without hesitation, Joseph offered to help, explaining:“As a trained volunteer with a humanitarian organization, my community is my responsibility.”But in this part of the world, getting to the hospital is easier said than done.On his motorbike, with Baindu and Senesie on the back, Joseph embarked on the long, bumpy road to Kailahun—carefully navigating the treacherous terrain and crossing rivers along the way. Thankfully, they arrived safely and Senesie was quickly treated by hospital staff. “Since I could help, I couldn’t let him die. So I made the decision to pay for the treatment because the parents couldn’t afford the cost,” explains Joseph.Thanks to Joseph’s quick action and support, Senesie made a full recovery from malaria. After a week in hospital, Baindu and Senesie returned to their home in Gbaigibu. Joseph continues to check in on them to make sure they’re doing well.“Joseph risked his life to save my son’s. Upon reaching the Kailahun Government Hospital, he paid for a blood transfusion that the medical practitioners had recommended. To me, Joseph is a true lifesaver who helped us in our time of need,” says Baindu.Baindu isn’t the only person in Gbaigibu to be supported by Joseph. He regularly engages people in his community on how to prevent, detect, and respond to diseases—such as malaria, measles, and yellow fever—so they can stay healthy and safe.Fomba Lamin, head of the Woroma Community Health Post, feels Joseph plays an invaluable role in encouraging village members to seek health support.“We thank the CP3 programme, it is improving our referral rate. Community members we refer in the past did not go to Kailahun for obvious reasons: the means of transportation. But with people such as Joseph, who encourage our people to seek health care in Kailahun, we see the reduction of death in our community,” says Fomba.Although malaria is preventable and treatable, the death toll from the disease remains high for children under 5 and pregnant women, particularly in remote and hard-to-reach communities. Key challenges to controlling malaria include a lack of reliable access to health services and prevention supplies, a decrease in global funding for malaria, and a widespread and increasing rise in insecticide resistance in malaria-endemic countries. Recent innovations, such as the approval from WHO of new insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) to address insecticide resistance and two new malaria vaccines for children, are positive steps to tackling the disease. Through programmes like CP3, the IFRC is supporting Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies worldwide to plan and deliver high-quality malaria prevention activities, such as:Supporting ministries of health and their partners to plan and implement distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets through mass campaigns or continuous distribution channels. Administering preventive treatment to children as part of seasonal malaria chemoprevention campaigns.Promoting individual preventive practices through social and behaviour change activities to encourage people to sleep under a bed net every night of the year, seek prompt and early healthcare in case of fever or malaria-related symptoms, and attend antenatal care for malaria prevention.This story from Sierra Leone is a great example of how National Societies are supporting communities to prevent and seek treatment for malaria, encouraging them to implement practices that will protect them from the disease, and improving their access to health care—even in remote and isolated communities.The IFRC also houses and chairs the Alliance for Malaria Prevention, a global partnership that supports ministries of health and their financial and implementing partners with the planning and implementation of ITN distribution, primarily through mass campaigns. ITNs remain the most effective tool to protect at-risk communities from malaria. --Joseph, the volunteer mentioned in this article, is part of the Community Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness Programme (CP3). Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the programme supports communities, National Societies, and other partners in seven countries to prepare for, prevent, detect and respond to disease threats. If you enjoyed this story and would like to learn more:Visit the malaria page on IFRC.orgVisit the Alliance for Malaria Prevention websiteSign up to the IFRC’s Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness NewsletterFollow the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society on X, Facebook and LinkedIn

Stopping a measles outbreak in its tracks in Sierra Leone

Makuma is a remote coastal village nestled in the north-west corner of Sierra Leone, on the border with Guinea. It’s only accessible by one narrow and bumpy dirt track. Its 2,000 or so inhabitants travel by foot or on motorbikes in the drier months. But when waters rise in the rainy season from May to December, the track becomes unusable—cutting people off from their nearest health centre, some 10km away.Its isolated location, coupled with the high risk of infectious diseases in Sierra Leone, means Makuma could be the perfect breeding ground for an epidemic, if it weren’t for one thing: the presence of the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society.Momoh Saio Kamara is Makuma’s local Red Cross volunteer. He grew up in the village and is much loved and trusted, thanks to his work supporting people through the 2014/15 Ebola outbreak.In 2019, Momoh was trained in epidemic control and community-based surveillance through the USAID-funded Community Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness Programme (CP3)—acquiring the skills and tools needed to detect, alert, and respond to disease outbreaks early.So when, in early 2022, people in Makuma started noticing strange symptoms of a mystery illness they’d never seen before, Momoh knew exactly what to do.“One day I was in the village doing house visits. I visited my friend who said there is someone—the nose is red, the mouth is red, the nose runs and there is a rash. I go and look and I thought straight away, it is measles,” explains Momoh.Without hesitating, Momoh alerted his supervisor, Jobel, using a digital community-based surveillance system set up through the CP3 programme. Jobel arrived shortly afterwards on his motorbike to investigate. Seeing the symptoms for himself, he escalated the alert in the system—notifying district health authorities in an instant.“After the alert, I rang the local nurse and called a community meeting to tell the people it is suspected measles,” adds Momoh.A highly contagious viral infection, measles spreads easily among the unvaccinated. It’s a serious illness that can require hospital admission, cause permanent disability, and even kill if not treated properly.Local nurses swiftly arrived and started tracing and registering suspected cases, while Momoh and Jobel went house-to-house to tell people how to stay safe.The following day, a Rapid Response Team from Kambia district hospital arrived to undertake testing, conduct a ring vaccination of nearly 800 children to minimize further infection, and tend to patients.“The Red Cross and District Health Management Team they come. It did not take long. When they arrived, again we called a meeting, we talked to the community. We told them these people have medicine and it is free,” explains Momoh.For N’Mah, a woman from Makuma whose young son caught measles, having Momoh by her side was a huge relief.“My son Morlai fell sick. I had no idea what the illness was and I felt worried and restless. Momoh held a community meeting to let people know he thought it was measles. He told us what he knew about the disease and asked people to tell him if they noticed anyone with the same symptoms. He told us to keep our environment as clean as possible, wash our hands properly, and isolate anyone who showed signs of the illness. I felt really happy because the health services came really quickly,” explains N’Mah.Momoh is one of 250 volunteers in Kambia district trained through the CP3 programme. Together, they are the eyes and ears in hard-to-reach communities, making sure no suspicious health event goes undetected.A total of 124 measles cases were eventually recorded during the outbreak in Makuma. The number could have been significantly higher had it not been for Momoh’s early action, the trust placed in him by his community, and the rapid response from local health authorities.“The successful response which prevented deaths and disability is a result of the early detection and reporting by theRed Cross volunteers, followed by a swift response from the District Health Management Team. It is no exaggeration to say that these volunteers help greatly towards the health care delivery system in Kambia district, especially in public health surveillance,” explains Ishmael Rogers, Kambia District Surveillance Officer.For Makuma village Councillor, Yusif, who has steered his community through difficult times such as Ebola and COVID-19 in recent years, the relief at having Red Cross support in keeping his people healthy is palpable.“I feel happy that Momoh is here. He’s always available for our community – any day, any time. He’s very patient. When our people are sick, he makes sure they are taken to hospital. I feel my community is safe with Momoh. God forbid there is another outbreak, we know Momoh is here for us.”--The rapid outbreak detection and response reported in this article were made possible thanks to the Community Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness Programme (CP3).Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the programme supports communities, National Societies, and other partners in seven countries to prepare for, prevent, detect and respond to disease threats.If you enjoyed this story and would like to learn more:Sign up to the IFRC’s Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness NewsletterFollow the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society on X, Facebook and LinkedInTo learn more about community-based surveillance initiatives within the IFRC please visit cbs.ifrc.org

Kate Forbes: ‘I wasn't surprised, but I was still shocked’ — IFRC’s new president takes on today’s toughest humanitarian challenges

Inspired by her mother’s work helping migrant farm workers in the southwestern United States, Kate Forbes grew up understanding how hard people struggle for a better life. Starting as a Red Cross volunteer at her local branch, she now leads the world’s largest network of local humanitarian organizations. As newly elected president of the IFRC, she talks about extraordinary volunteers she’s met around the world who’ve risked everything to help others, and she explains her approach to today’s most complex humanitarian crises, from climate change to migration.

Xavier Castellanos: How a near-death experience on a motorcycle steered him to a life helping others

Xavier Castellanos was 13 years old when he joined a Red Cross club at his high school in Ecuador. But it wasn’t until he got into a serious motorcycle accident that his life took a serious turn toward helping others in serious trouble. The teenage Castellanos almost died in that crash, in part because no one nearby knew how to help. “I didn’t want to see anyone else go through that,” he recalls. And so his lifelong humanitarian journey began.

'There is an urgent need to integrate climate adaptation in emergency preparedness and response'

Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, It is a pleasure to address the 2023 Belt and Road Ministerial Forum for International Cooperation in Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Management. I congratulate the Government of China for their leadership on this initiative, which has marked significant achievements and efforts on disaster risk reduction and emergency management over the past ten years. The IFRC welcomes our partnerships, including with the Government of China, that supports our Disaster Response Emergency Fund for the most efficient response to disasters and crises. Friends and colleagues, we have witnessed a year of unprecedented disasters around the world, which have been further compounded by climate change and geopolitical conflicts. Global humanitarian needs are rising at an alarming rate. These needs are vastly outstripping the resources available to address them. The human costs of disasters and crises remains unacceptably high. As the world’s largest global humanitarian network, with a unique global and local reach, the IFRC has been supporting the National Societies in impacted countries to respond to the needs of crisis-affected communities. The Government of China and the Red Cross Society of China have also been providing urgently needed humanitarian assistance to our IFRC network. Still, more needs to be done. Today, I have three important messages I would like to share with you. Firstly, the climate crisis is the biggest multiplier in increasing disaster risks. If humanity fails to act, hundreds of millions of people will put in a highly increased disaster risk because of the humanitarian impacts of the climate crisis. There is an urgent need to integrate climate adaptation in emergency preparedness and response. The IFRC is working with our member National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies across the world to strengthen the coordination, preparedness and response to large-scale disasters and crises. Secondly, investing in disaster risk reduction saves lives and livelihoods. Over the last decade, some of the most recent—and often predictable—extreme weather events were the most deadly, costly, and devastating. The IFRC network has been transforming our emergency response mechanisms to integrate early warning approaches that anticipate disasters so that people can act ahead of time to save lives and livelihoods. This helps them recover and build resilience to the next disaster. It is encouraging to see recent efforts in China to reinforce disaster prevention measures and scale up early warning and early action systems. Finally, global solidarity and multi-sectoral collaboration is must to bring the disaster preparedness and emergency response to scale. It will take joining forces to prepare for and effectively respond to the potential mega disasters. No one organization can do this alone. The Belt and Road Initiative on Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Management offers us a platform and opportunity to work together and confront the challenges of today and in the future. I am especially pleased to see that localization and investment in local actors is included in this years’ Joint Statement. The IFRC welcomes collaboration with the Government of China and other countries along the Belt and Road Initiative to reduce the humanitarian needs. I wish you all a successful Ministerial Forum, and I wish you many positive discussions and outcomes from this important event. Thank you.

Mahabub Maalim: Planting hope amid a hunger crisis in Africa

A regional leader in the fight against food insecurity in Africa, Mahabub Maalim knows first-hand the impact that hunger has on people and communities. Growing up in eastern Kenya, he’s seen how cycles of drought, crop loss and hunger have become more frequent and more severe. He’s dedicated his life to helping communities develop local solutions and he now serves as special advisor to IFRC’s response to the current hunger crisis in Africa (now impacting 23 countries).

IFRC Secretary General statement at UNGA High-level Ministerial Side event on Sudan

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, Our inaction today is extracting a heavy and unacceptable price on the people of Sudan. The IFRC has been working closely with the Sudanese Red Crescent Society before and since the onset of this conflict. We closely coordinate with ICRC. The Sudanese Red Crescent Society has more than 40,000 trained volunteers. It has access and reach to all 18 States and across both sides of the conflict to deliver life-saving assistance. IFRC launched an Emergency Appeal to help scale up response in support of Sudan and neighbouring countries. Sadly, the response to the appeal has been very poor and many of the services may have to stop in coming months. Excellencies – I join you all to call for an end to this inaction because the price Sudanese people are paying is inexcusable. First—let’s have the heart to demonstrate solidarity and commitment to all crises, irrespective of their global profile. Let’s have the moral courage to treat all people affected by crises equally as they all deserve our attention and resources. Second, let’s get the funding to the local actors that have the infrastructure and trained personnel on the ground. So far only a tiny portion of the USD 1.5 billion raised for this crisis has reached local actors. Investing in them maximises the impact of every dollar spent. Third, let’s ensure safety, access and non-politicization of humanitarian action. Sadly, the Sudanese Red Crescent Society has already lost 5 volunteers while on duty. The sacrifices and courage of these volunteers, these local actors form the backbone of our humanitarian efforts. They must be protected at all costs. Together in partnership and solidarity, we can substantially alter the trajectory of the current inaction in Sudan to make a lasting, positive difference. Thank you.

New IFRC podcast introduces the 'People in the Red Vest’

When disaster strikes, the sight of someone wearing a red vest is a sign that help has arrived. It’s a powerful symbol of hope and comfort amid the chaos following an emergency, worn by members of the IFRC and its 191 member Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies. And now it’s also a symbol of our brand new podcast. Launching on 12 September across all major streaming services, People in the Red Vest is a twice-monthly podcast that features inspiring stories of people from across the IFRC network. They’ll speak about their personal experiences of responding to the world's biggest humanitarian crises and what inspires them to keep going. The first episode features IFRC Secretary General Jagan Chapagain, who talks about his recent missions to several countries in Africa impacted by an acute hunger crisis, and to Slovenia, hit by severe flooding. He also speaks of his upcoming trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly and shares what inspired his own personal humanitarian journey. “One thing that always stuck into my head was something Albert Einstein said, ‘You live a real life by making a difference in someone else's,’” said Chapagain, who was 14 when he became a volunteer for the Nepal Red Cross. Keenly interested in science from a young age, Chapagain is an engineer by training. But it was his first job, helping refugees in Nepal, that steered him down the humanitarian path. “Just listening to the refugees’ stories, their dreams and plans for their families... in many ways, that cemented my belief that if you want to live a satisfied life, you should do something for others,” he adds. Upcoming guests include: A regional leader in the fight against food insecurity in Africa, Ambassador Mahabub Maalim, who also serves as advisor to IFRC’s response to the current hunger crisis in Africa (now impacting 23 countries). He shares his thoughts on how to break cycles of food insecurity in the face of the climate crisis, as well as his own personal experiences growing up with hunger in eastern Kenya. Nena Stoiljkovic, a leader in the world of humanitarian and development finance who serves as IFRC’s Under Secretary General for Global Relations, Diplomacy and Digitalization. She talks about her life-long passion for using innovative financing and partnerships to help people and communities bounce back from hardship, as well as her experiences as a woman leader in the still male-dominated world of finance and development. Future episodes will also include people working at the heart of IFRC emergency and recovery operations around the world, as well as volunteers and leaders from its member National Societies. They will share their own compelling and inspiring stories and their thoughts on new trends in technology and humanitarian response, how to make our operations more inclusive and equitable, and what makes them to keep going despite the mounting challenges. In each episode, the guests will also tell us what the Red Vest symbolizes to them. If you’re curious, subscribe and join us wherever you listen to your podcasts.

The untapped potential of innovative financing and humanitarian organizations

This piece was originally published in the OECD Development Co-operation Report 2023 'Debating the Aid System', available here. The past several years have been unprecedented for the humanitarian sector. Worsening disasters and evolving crises across the globe have demonstrated that, despite our best efforts, the assumptions, approaches and structures that have long defined humanitarian responses are no longer capable of adequately meeting people’s needs. This comes as no surprise to members and observers of the humanitarian sector. Important and necessary discussions on questions of localisation and the decolonisation of aid reveal the extent to which transformation is necessary – not only for the future of the humanitarian system but also the future of our organisations and the future we strive to build for the individuals and communities we partner with. At the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), local organisations lead our humanitarian action. The 192 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies that make up the IFRC network are embedded in their local communities and are intimately aware of the needs and how best to shape an appropriate humanitarian response. In this way, the IFRC network has a unique strength and capacity to directly channel resources from the international ecosystem to local and national organisations. A recent analysis found that local and community actors deliver programming that is 32% more cost efficient than that of international intermediaries. We know through the work of our IFRC network that localising humanitarian assistance promotes greater inclusion and equity, more trust, faster and more timely responses, more flexibility, broader access, and long-term sustainability in our operations and programming. By investing in local and national support systems, we are able to strengthen and reinforce national infrastructure – directly benefiting the people who need it most. Yet despite donor commitments in the Grand Bargain and significant progress made by some donors, the overall percentage of direct funding to local actors has barely moved beyond the low single digits. As the impacts of climate change accelerate, and as new and unexpected conflicts devastate entire populations, small or medium-sized crises and disasters struggle to attract visibility and funding, leaving those affected at risk of being neglected by the international community. At the IFRC, we are exploring innovative ways of covering the costs of our work to prevent this from happening. We’ve had to ask ourselves, how are we reacting to the challenge of doing better with less? How are we exploring innovative ideas around financing and engaging with new donors? The blurring of lines between the humanitarian and the private sectors is an area of exciting growth that represents untapped potential when it comes to innovative financing. In a groundbreaking move, the IFRC is collaborating with Aon and the Centre for Disaster Protection to build an innovative insurance mechanism whereby commercial insurance markets leverage the contributions of traditional donors to expand the capacity of our Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF) to respond to natural disasters. The DREF, established in 1985, is a central funding mechanism through which the IFRC releases funds rapidly to national societies for early action and immediate disaster response. The balance of funds required by the DREF to meet the demands of national societies has historically been funded through an annual appeal. However, in 2020, high requests for funds meant that DREF allocations surpassed available resources for the first time in history. The growing needs facing national societies around the world and the uncertainties of the future have therefore sparked a process of modernisation with the aim of making the DREF more flexible and more effective. Through the insurance structure we are developing, donors would pay the premium instead of directly financing disaster responses through the DREF. This extends the value of their contributions and transfers the risk to the private sector if allocation requests exceed available resources. Reinsurance markets would relieve the risks of excessive natural hazards and would ensure funds are available for national societies to rely on even in periods of excessive or unexpected demand. Through this cutting-edge approach, we aim to increase annual DREF allocations to CHF100million (Swiss francs), equivalent to about USD 100 million, in 2025. As it is impossible to reach this target through donor grants alone, the insurance mechanism represents an enormous step forward that has the capacity to transform how the international humanitarian system responds to complex crises in the future. Another way the IFRC has answered this call is through our cash and voucher assistance programming. Using cash reiterates our commitment to more agile and efficient methods of providing humanitarian support that promotes choice and preserves dignity for people and communities. This type of programming allows us to cut down operating costs by placing the people affected by crisis and disaster – and most importantly, their own preferences and decisions – at the centre of our operations. Recently we developed a new Cash app, built on learnings from other emergency operations, that allows people fleeing Ukraine to self-register and be verified for assistance. This new innovative approach to cash, which has been rolled out in Romania, has allowed us to take our response to scale and at speed, in many instances as the leading agency in the delivery of cash in the Ukraine response. Over 56000 people have been reached and assisted with EUR 17.4 million in Romania. The app has also been launched in Bulgaria, where in just four days, 20% of the known Ukrainians in the country were able to self-register. Ultimately, by scaling up and replicating these ambitious and innovative programmes across our global network, the community-connectedness of organisations like the IFRC can be harnessed in a powerful way. The inescapable reality is that more funds will be urgently needed to confront the ever-increasing humanitarian emergencies of the world – yet financial innovation holds the key to sustainable, meaningful and impactful humanitarian work.

IFRC statement at the High-Level Pledging Event for Sudan and the Region

Excellencies, The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has been working closely with the Sudanese Red Crescent Society in close coordination with other Movement partners before and since the onset of this conflict. The Sudanese Red Crescent Society is the largest humanitarian responder in the country. It has more than 40,000 trained volunteers. It has access and reach to all 18 States and across both sides of the conflict to deliver life-saving assistance. The IFRC has launched Emergency Appeals to scale up response in support of the Sudanese Red Crescent and National Societies in neighbouring countries to provide dignified and safe assistance to people on the move. Excellencies – today I call on the international community to make following commitments: First - Ensure Protection: The IFRC calls on all parties to the conflict to take all precautions to avoid civilian injuries and loss of life, and ensure critical civilian infrastructure is protected. Second – Ensure Access: Sudanese Red Crescent Society and other first responders must have the humanitarian space to conduct their lifesaving work. The IFRC is deeply concerned at reports of increased cases of violence affecting civilians and reports of surging cases of sexual and gender-based violence. Third – Ensure resources: We urge world leaders, to urgently increase their funding so that local organizations including the Sudanese Red Crescent Society have sufficient resources to save lives. The people of Sudan need our support today and, in the weeks, and months to come. Their lives are on the line. The world cannot afford to look away. Thank you.

Statement to the UN Security Council Ministerial Open Debate on climate change, peace and security

On behalf of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and our 191-member National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, I am pleased to address the Security Council Ministerial Open Debate. Our National Society volunteers from their local communities tell us that the climate crisis is the number one humanitarian crisis that communities face around the globe, threatening human security. Currently, 90% of all disasters are climate and weather-related, resulting in the deaths of over 410,000 people in the last decade, and impacting 1.7 billion people. The impacts of climate crisis are compounding other crises – food insecurity, disease outbreaks, water shortages and large population movements – reversing development gains thereby impacting global peace and security. Although the climate crisis affects us all, the science and data shows that we are not all impacted equally. Our focus must be on the communities most impacted and at risk, especially those in fragile settings. Mr/Madam President, While we know that a one-size-fits-all solution to reducing climate risks does not exist,the IFRC proposes three important shifts to address the magnitude of the climate crisis before us: Focus on community leadership, ownership and reach – Investing in large scale disaster risk reduction, climate mitigation and adaptation, at the community level, where it is most needed and has the greatest potential impact is essential. Local organizations are critical to designing and implementing climate action, and channeling climate finance to the right places, to those most in need. They must drive the change. Fill the financing gaps –Some 30 of the most climate vulnerable countries ­­– a majority of which are fragile contexts ­– receive only $1 per person per year in climate adaptation funding. We must change how we finance climate action. There must be a more integrated approach to humanitarian, development, climate and peace financing, putting the needs of the communities at the center. The funding must reach the local level to build and empower localinstitutional and responsecapacities and solutions. The empowered local communities form the foundation for peaceful societies. Forecasting and anticipatory action –We all must scale upearly warningand early action systems that provide communities with information and funding to act before climate events become disasters. This means giving local organizations more direct access to finance and decision-making processes through mechanisms like IFRC’s Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF), that provides direct funding to National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies who play a key role in protecting people from the impacts of climate change. We all – whether from the humanitarian, development, climate or peace sectors – must work together to address both immediate needs and strengthen long-term resilience to prevent and alleviate human suffering and thereby contribute to the maintenance of human dignity and peace in the world. Thank you.

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.

Honduran Red Cross: Kindness shines bright in local communities

It’s 8am on a peaceful Sunday morning in Copán Ruinas, a small, picturesque town in western Honduras that was formerly one of the most powerful cities in the Mayan empire. Shopkeepers are starting to open their doors. A scattering of women and children play in the main square. And many locals – wearing their signature wide-brimmed hats – are heading out on their morning walks. But one man stands out in his bright red vest and cap. A large Red Cross emblem and the words Cruz Roja Hondureña proudly emblazoned on the back. I watch for a moment as he chats to people in the village, who all seem to greet him warmly with a handshake or fist bump. I catch up to him, say a friendly “¡Hola, amigo!” and learn his name is Stanley. A Red Cross volunteer for more than 22 years, he’s on his way to a meeting with fellow volunteers and staff from around their region. He invites me to visit the local branch later that afternoon to learn about what they do. And so I did! And the welcome couldn’t have been warmer. Over lunch, I learned that everyone had come together from across the region to share their stories, knowledge, and experiences of supporting their local communities through various crises and day-to-day challenges. Let me tell you about three of the people I met: Mirian, Napoleón and Loany. Mirian Mirian is the proud President of the Copán branch and has been volunteering for more than 10 years. Her branch runs the only two ambulances in the whole town, meaning that when someone gets into trouble, it’s her team that answers the call. She oversees far more than emergency health services, though. Her branch does a lot of work helping local people, including indigenous groups living in the surrounding hills and schoolchildren, to be prepared for crises – such as hurricanes and floods. Her branch is also supporting the growing number of migrants passing through Honduras on their way northwards, including, amongst other things, through Humanitarian Service Points: strategically located spaces where migrants can access safe and reliable support on their journeys. “I am motivated by humanitarianism, by seeing how the Red Cross is an organization full of love for others. That we are people willing to give everything. For me, it’s the best thing that ever happened to me – being a member of the Red Cross family,” says Mirian. Napoleón Napoleón is based in San Pedro Sula, Honduras’ second largest city. He’s a former cameraman who has been volunteering as a driver for the Honduran Red Cross for five years. A couple of years ago, Napoleón was one of many Honduran Red Cross volunteers who responded to devastating hurricanes Eta and Iota that ravaged the region. He describes driving a large rescue truck through flood water so deep his vehicle nearly washed away. Despite treacherous conditions, he was able to reach and help rescue many stranded people, their belongings, and pets. He also assisted with the massive recovery and reconstruction effort, helping to put people’s lives and homes back together again. The pride Napoleón takes in volunteering is written all over his face. His smile beams from ear to ear as he talks about supporting his fellow volunteers and rallying them together during a crisis. “I like being a volunteer because you donate part of your life and you share feelings in helping humanity. It makes you feel good, feel satisfied, to be able to help,” says Napoleón. Loany Loany is also based in San Pedro Sula, but her role is a little different. She’s not a volunteer, instead she’s employed by the Honduran Red Cross to help volunteers. She works with local branches, like the one in Copán, to improve their governance, financial management, and resource mobilization, so that their volunteers can provide better care and support to their communities. While it might not sound as impressive as wading through flood waters to rescue survivors, Loany’s work is no less important. Strong local branches are the bedrock of the IFRC network. Without them, we can’t provide the fast, effective and local support that communities in crisis really need. With one year’s experience, Loany is a relative newcomer to the Red Cross family. I asked her what working for the Red Cross means to her and whether she plans to continue: “For me it means love, because wanting to do things well, wanting to help other people who are vulnerable or at risk, makes us give the best of ourselves as people. Now that I’ve entered the world of the Red Cross, I don’t know if I’ll ever leave!,” she says. At the end of the volunteer meeting, the group disbands, bidding each other fond farewells. I walk back to the main square in Copán, thinking about a word we often use in the humanitarian sector: ‘localization’. It’s a jargon term. But what does it really mean? I realise that, to me, it means Mirian, Napoleón and Loany: three people working hard within their local communities to make life better, safer, and brighter for those around them. And it means Stanley: a man treading the same familiar streets for years in his hometown wearing his Red Cross vest. A man known, trusted, and respected by his local community, there for them through good times and bad.