In November, the Canadian Red Cross sent an emergency health clinic and aid workers to Honduras to provide much-needed health services after Hurricanes Eta and Iota devastated the Central America region.
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On a sweltering day in late February volunteers from the Haitian Red Cross are trying their best to focus on Dr. Sherley Bernard despite the heat. Her energetic demeanour and the bare grey concrete walls help, but it’s the subject matter that captures their attention. The task at hand, among other things, learn how to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak — recently declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization.
Doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers in conflict zones work under challenges most of us can’t imagine; treating frequent injuries from bombs and bullets, dealing with disrupted supply lines, and managing hospitals and clinics that are damaged or even under attack.
Now imagine adding COVID-19 into that mix.
Red Cross Talks reached out to Hossam Elsharkawi to discuss the additional threat that the global pandemic poses to those who live and work in areas of conflict.
Around the world childbirth is seen as a joyous occasion. It marks the beginning of a new life, full of possibility and hope for the future. In many countries we take this process for granted. There’s pain, certainly, but afterwards women can typically expect to recover with a happy, healthy child. However, in Afghanistan that is frequently not the case. In fact, childbirth can be a death sentence.
Jean-Baptiste Lacombe is a Rapid Response Manager with the Canadian Red Cross and recently shared with us how his latest mission went supporting the Africa Region for the International Federation of the Red Cross during COVID-19.
With twelve of the twenty countries most vulnerable to climate change in conflict, the International Committee of the Red Cross is calling for humanitarian and government support to make sure climate action and support are reaching the most vulnerable.
75 years ago, atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The scale of the destruction which resulted from their use was unprecedented; the immediate blast killed over 150,000 people. (Some estimates put the death toll closer to 200,000). The suffering caused by the destruction and nuclear fallout continues to this day.
For people living in conflict zones, the COVID-19 pandemic represents an additional dangerous threat. Learn why International Humanitarian Law is important to protecting civilians' health in these conflict zones.