In the north-eastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, the epicentre of fighting between Boko Haram and the Nigerian army, the scale of humanitarian needs and the horrific mental scars and physical injuries the violence is leaving on the population are appalling. “Whole communities have fled their villages and endured unimaginable suffering,” said ICRC President Peter Maurer during a recent visit. An estimated 1.5 million people have been displaced, mostly within Nigeria itself. The ICRC has distributed emergency food and essential household items to nearly 260,000 people in north-east Nigeria and 65,000 people in neighbouring Niger. It is also appealing for an additional US$ 60 million while the IFRC has launched an emergency appeal for US$ 2.8 million aimed at providing livelihood and psychosocial support, healthcare, household items and access to clean water to 150,000 people.
The Covid-19 pandemic is forcing a critical examination of how communities and countries prepare for multiple, overlapping crises. Here are a few lessons the Japanese Red Cross Society learned after the triple disaster of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear plant meltdown ten years ago this month.
In places where conflict or crisis means basic services are scarce, the use of data is saving lives. But protecting people’s physical well-being, experts say, is also about protecting their digital profile in cyberspace.
As a biologist who responds to emergencies for the Spanish Red Cross, Eva Turró has found her place in the humanitarian world, raising awareness about the life-saving link between health and hygiene in the wake of calamity.
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