Islamabad / Kuala Lumpur, 7 October 2022 – As widespread flash floods in Pakistan continue to trigger waves of displacement, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and Pakistan Red Crescent are scaling up their humanitarian assistance. In a revised emergency appeal, the IFRC is asking for CHF 55 million to assist three […]
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Madagascar: Red Cross teams rush to avert a tragedy as Tropical Cyclone Emnati approaches
Antananarivo/Nairobi/Geneva, 21 February 2022—Teams from the Malagasy Red Cross Society (MRCS) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in the eastern part of Madagascar are working around the clock to minimize the humanitarian impact of the fast-approaching Tropical Cyclone Emnati. Andoniaina Ratsimamanga, the Secretary General of Malagasy Red Cross said: […]
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IRC warns more lives will be lost in Belarus without rapid de-escalation and cooperation on all sides
Brussels, Belgium, 22nd November 2021 – As days continue to pass and thirteen people, including a one year old child, have lost their lives at the border between Poland and Belarus, the IRC calls for unfettered humanitarian access and a firm defence of the right to asylum at border areas. As the stalemate between the […]
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New #ClimateChangedMe campaign sounds a global alarm: “The climate crisis is here, and we need to act now.”
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) launched today an innovative campaign showcasing the impact of climate change on people’s lives across the globe. The campaign, #ClimateChangedMe, takes a twist on a typical “self-help” book and presents climate change as the “ultimate life-changing experience”. Ahead of the campaign launch, the IFRC […]
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More than 139 million people hit by climate crisis and COVID-19, new IFRC analysis reveals
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate-related disasters have affected the lives of at least 139.2 million people and killed more than 17,242. This is the finding of a new analysis published today by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, on […]
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Urgent life-saving efforts in Haiti underway as preliminary reports confirm earthquake devastation
Port au Prince, Panama, Geneva, 14 August 2021 – On Saturday, 14 August a major 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti. According to Haiti’s Office for Civil Protection, 227 have died and the figure is sadly expected to increase in the coming hours. Preliminary reports by Haitian Red Cross volunteers and IFRC staff on the ground confirm that the earthquake has caused severe damage to infrastructure, including hospitals, especially […]
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Afghanistan: COVID-19 at crisis point as hospitals overflow
Kuala Lumpur/Kabul/Geneva, 17 June 2021 – A COVID-19 surge in Afghanistan has reached a crisis point as infections and deaths are spiraling out of control, threatening to engulf the country’s fragile health system, as a consequence of decades of armed conflict, and compounding disasters. Hospital beds are full in many areas across the country and oxygen supplies […]
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Record COVID surge crashes into South Asia
Kuala Lumpur/Delhi, 16 April 2021 – A humanitarian calamity is engulfing South Asia as COVID-19 skyrockets across several countries setting new records, with more than 200,000 people infected per day. South Asia is fast becoming the new global epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic. This deadlier and more infectious new wave is overwhelming hospitals and social […]
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Indonesia: Medical crews help fearful earthquake survivors
Kuala Lumpur/Jakarta/Geneva, 18 January 2021 – More Indonesian Red Cross ambulance and medical crews have arrived to treat people injured following the destructive earthquake that hit West Sulawesi, Indonesia. Critical relief has been arriving in affected areas, including tarpaulins and other shelter supplies, along with food and safe water as thousands of people remain displaced, […]
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IFRC: Success of COVID-19 vaccine relies on our ability to address “mistrust pandemic”
New York/Geneva, 30 November 2020 – The President of the world’s largest humanitarian organization has warned that efforts to roll out a potential COVID-19 vaccine could fail unless equally ambitious efforts to counteract rapidly rising levels of mistrust and misinformation are put in place. Speaking ahead of a United Nations High-Level Special Session on the […]
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New storm hits towns devastated by Super Typhoon Goni
Kuala Lumpur/Manila/Geneva, 12 November 2020 – Another major storm has struck the same communities that were devastated by Super Typhoon Goni in the Philippines only 10 days ago. Typhoon Vamco is hitting central Luzon in the Philippines today after dumping heavy rain on more than 1.6 million people already severely affected by last week’s super […]
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Homes of 1 million people in ruin as major typhoon hits Vietnam
Kuala Lumpur/Hanoi/Geneva, 28 October, 2020 – Catastrophic floods across central Vietnam have already ruined the homes of more than one million people as yet another major storm takes aim for the battered region. In excess of 310,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed by recent flooding, leaving close to 1.2 million people in severe danger […]
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South Asia floods: 9.6 million people swamped as humanitarian crisis deepens
Kuala Lumpur/Delhi/Dhaka/Kathmandu//Geneva, 22 July 2020 – A humanitarian crisis is deepening in South Asia as new figures reveal that more than 9.6 million people have been affected by monsoon floods, devastating large areas of India, Bangladesh and Nepal. Jagan Chapagain, Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said: […]
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Red Cross scales up preparedness for global response as novel coronavirus declared an international health emergency
Geneva/Kuala Lumpur, 31 January 2020 – As the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) continues spreading beyond China, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is scaling up preparedness efforts to support people who are most vulnerable to the outbreak in Asia Pacific and beyond. Dr Emanuele Capobianco IFRC’s Director for Health and Care […]
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Climate change a priority for newest Red Cross societies
Geneva, 5 December 2019 – The two newest members of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) both consider responding to the humanitarian impacts of climate change as one of their main priorities. The Bhutan Red Cross Society and the Marshall Islands Red Cross Society were admitted today as 191st and […]
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Cyclone Kenneth: First reports from northern Mozambique
Beira/Nairobi/Geneva, April 26, 2019 – Red Cross teams in northern Mozambique are reporting serious damage in towns and communities that bore the brunt of Cyclone Kenneth overnight. Kenneth made landfall with wind speeds of up to 231 km per hour – almost the equivalent of a category 4 hurricane. Initial reports from Quissanga indicate extensive […]
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Mozambique cyclone: “90 per cent” of Beira and surrounds damaged or destroyed
Beira/Nairobi/Geneva, 18 March 2019 — The scale of damage caused by cyclone Idai that hit the Mozambican city of Beira is massive and horrifying. This is the initial assessment of a team of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) aid workers that reached the devasted city yesterday. Jamie LeSueur, who is […]
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Cox’s Bazar: Nearly 600,000 people “worryingly exposed” ahead of coming cyclone seasons
February 18, 2019 – An estimated 574,000 people in camps close to Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar face the coming cyclone seasons with only rotting bamboo and shredding plastic to protect them, warns the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). A Red Cross Red Crescent survey found that 82 per cent of the […]
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Red Cross in action after Krakatoa tsunami
Kuala Lumpur / Geneva, 23 December 2018 – The Indonesian Red Cross (Palang Merah Indonesia) is providing emergency assistance and helping clean up after a series of tsunami waves struck Sunda Strait, which connects the Java Sea to the Indian Ocean at the tip of Sumatra and Java at 930pm on 22 December. The powerful […]
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“Highly complex” operation anticipated, as four cases test positive for Ebola in north-eastern DR Congo
Kinshasa/Nairobi/Geneva, 2 August – The response to the presumptive positive outbreak of Ebola in north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) will be “highly complex”, according to a senior public health expert at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). The DRC Ministry of Health reported that four samples from patients […]