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

The IFRC Regional Director for Asia Pacific, Alexander Matheou, visited Myanmar from 23 to 29 April 2023. The purpose of the visit was to meet the new leadership of the Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS) and to discuss with them the importance of applying the Red Cross’ Fundamental Principles of neutrality, impartiality and independence to provide principled humanitarian assistance in a complex emergency. To this end, Mr. Matheou also met State Administration Council ministries, including the Minister of Health, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of International Cooperation. The Regional Director highlighted the special auxiliary role of MRCS in the provision of humanitarian services in Myanmar, and the importance of respecting its independence and neutrality as it delivers assistance in response to natural disasters, in health crises, and in situations of conflict. Noting the role of the IFRC to support and strengthen the actions and institutional capacity of the MRCS, the Regional Director also called for facilitation of humanitarian assistance, especially in areas that are hardest to reach. He confirmed IFRC’s commitment to supporting the MRCS to respond to humanitarian needs, aligned with the Red Cross’ Fundamental Principles. Mr. Matheou said: “Over 17 million people need humanitarian assistance in Myanmar. It is one of the largest and most complex humanitarian crises in the world. No single organization can reach everyone in need or reach all parts of the country affected by the crisis. Like other organizations, we have our limitations. However, Myanmar Red Cross is the country’s largest humanitarian organization, and it has a key role to play in communities across the country, through its local branches and its trained volunteers." "Our job as IFRC is to assist Myanmar Red Cross to fulfil that role in a principled way, to the benefit of as many people as possible in Myanmar, in response to both natural and manmade disasters, and strengthen its role as a local community actor.” With a nationwide network, Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS) is the country’s largest humanitarian organization delivering humanitarian assistance across the country. The MRCS, supported by the IFRC network, provides services in disaster management and risk reduction, health and care, mental health and psychosocial support, water and sanitation, restoring family links, and first aid and safety services, amongst others. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the MRCS assisted millions of people through risk awareness messaging, vaccination support, quarantine support and distribution of protective items, as well as providing oxygen to dozens of thousands of people in need, along with cash assistance to support socio-economic recovery of affected households. In the past two years since the military intervention, the MRCS has assisted hundreds of thousands of people across the country, in hard to access areas such as Chin, Magway, Sagaing, Kayah and Kayin, as well as Shan State and Yangon, through food assistance, cash distributions, medical assistance and non-food items such as hygiene kits, dignity kits, water filters, amongst others. The MRCS works as an auxiliary to public authorities in the humanitarian field, like all 192 National Societies of the Red Cross or Red Crescent around the world. Media contact: In Kuala Lumpur: Afrhill Rances, Regional Communications Manager, [email protected], +60 19 271 3641

Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are neither governmental institutions nor wholly separate non-governmental organizations (NGOs).Their relationship to the authorities in their country is defined by their role as “auxiliaries” and by the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

Ramallah, 14 Dec 2018: For the past 50 years, volunteers at Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) have been providing humanitarian services not only in the occupied Palestinian territory but also to the Palestinian diaspora in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Egypt. To mark the anniversary, PRCS organized an event in Ramallah attended by volunteers, International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement representatives, NGOs and several humanitarian organizations. Dr. Younis A-Khatib, President of Palestine Red Crescent Society, said: “On our 50th anniversary, I congratulate our volunteers and staff for their dedication and passion, without which, we wouldn’t have been able to provide humanitarian services in an extremely difficult working environment. “I would like to express our gratitude for the remarkable support we have been receiving from our sister organizations, the National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and look forward to fostering additional strategic partnerships to further strengthen the capacity of our volunteers and staff.” Mr Francesco Rocca, President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and IFRC Regional Director Sayed Hashem attended the event. Mr Rocca said: “We are in Palestine to express our solidarity and admiration of the hard work that volunteers and staff have been doing under difficult circumstances for the past 50 years. Humanitarian needs here are already serious and I fear they may worsen in 2019. At least 1.9 million Palestinians could be at risk of conflict and violence, forcible displacement and denial of access to livelihoods. We call on the international community for greater support to PRCS: local actors are always best placed to serve their own communities. “While we celebrate 50 years of achievements, we remember all volunteers who lost their lives in line of duty and we remind all parties to the conflict that Red Crescent volunteers, staff and emergency medical technicians are neutral and should be protected and enabled to do their humanitarian duty at all times.” Palestine Red Crescent Society emergency services are ready to respond at a moment’s notice across the occupied Palestinian territory. In addition, PRCS provides disaster management services when needed and deploys mobile emergency teams and field hospitals to isolated and affected towns and villages where teams provide health care and relief items to communities in need.