Red Vest

Trust is not easy to quantify. But without it, many things in life become impossible. Humanitarian work is no exception. Jessie Thomson, IFRC’s head of delegation in Türkiye, shares what she’s learned about building trust, including some essential, concrete behaviours that build trust among partners, the public and work teams. When trust is present, she says, people are more effective, innovative and less afraid to take on more ambitious goals. One example of trust in action, she says, was the massive and rapid 2023 earthquake response, led by the Turkish Red Crescent with support from the IFRC network.  

Most people have some idea of what is meant by diplomacy. But what is ‘humanitarian diplomacy?’ Dylan Winder, permanent observer to the United Nations and director of global humanitarian diplomacy at the IFRC, says it’s about speaking up and finding solutions for people caught in crisis, who find themselves in vulnerable situations but don’t have a voice in the halls of power. These days, it also means standing up for local people who try to help their vulnerable neighbours. “By far the majority of humanitarian workers killed or injured in crisis situations are local workers,” he says. “That has to change and be recognized as a critical issue for the global community.” 

“I was always told that water is life,” says Guillermo Sanchez, a water, sanitation and hygiene specialist for the Panamanian Red Cross who lives and works in the Darien Gap, a stretch of undeveloped jungle that connects South and Central America. “But I never really appreciated what that meant until I was able to see water really save the lives of people coming out of the Darien Gap.”  This roadless, lawless and hilly forest on the border between Colombia and Panama is now one of the world’s most used, and most dangerous, routes for people seeking a better life. When people finally make it through, they’re exhausted, dehydrated and covered with mud. That’s when water takes on even more meaning. “Just having a clean shower means people can feel like themselves again; they can reclaim themselves, their dignity.” 

Behind the lens of a camera or the handlebars of a bicycle, Brad Zerivitz is driven by the desire to connect with his fellow humans. “I don't approach somebody with the camera in front of my face,” says Zerivitz, senior director of visual communications for the American Red Cross. “I approach them first as a Red Crosser and as a person.” By listening and making that personal connection, people feel more able to fully share the stories.  The same passion fuels Zerivitz’s long-distance bicycling adventures, which most recently took him across much of southern Africa. “When you’re travelling by bike, you're open to the elements and to the people. You're traveling at a human speed so you can talk to people and have all of these great connections along the roadside.”  

Climate change is hurting everyone in Ghana, but it’s hitting young people particularly hard, says Abudi Razak, volunteer and national youth president for the Ghana Red Cross. Droughts in the north and floods down south mean that crop yields and incomes are low, while the cost of living is skyrocketing. Young people see their futures evaporating. Razak’s response is to motivate young people take matters into their own hands. One example is something he calls “climate-preneurship”; projects that earn income while solving climate-related challenges. Razak was recently honored by the IFRC with its highest humanitarian award, named after its founder Henry Davison. 

With new technologies changing our lives in rapid and radical ways, Vasilka Sancin says this is a time of unprecedented opportunity. “This is an enormous opportunity for humankind to act preventatively, to address issues ahead of any potential disasters,” says Sancin, an international law expert who serves as Vice-President of the Slovenian Red Cross and as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council Advisory Committee. As developing technologies such as autonomous weapon systems and artificial intelligence pose new possibilities and new risks, the time is now for people to work together to ensure our laws provide adequate protection for people impacted by crisis. 

“It’s a peculiar profession,” Margareta Wahlström says when asked about her life as a humanitarian aid worker.  Wahlström has worked in crisis situations from Vietnam to Cambodia to Afghanistan, and she held high-level positions at both the United Nations and the Swedish Red Cross. Along with a stressful work culture that often rewards a certain workaholic “cowboy” mentality, the “peculiarities” of humanitarian work also mean that women are less likely than men to reach decision-making positions. Thanks in part to Wahlström, that is changing. Her consistent advocacy for gender equity is one reason she was recently awarded The Henry Dunant Medal, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement’s highest honor.

 Young people do not fit into “cookie-cutter” stereotypes, says Michelle Chew, IFRC’s newly elected Youth Commission Chair. “Young people are very diverse and only by valuing and accepting all forms of young people can we engage communities properly.”  While young people are gaining influence, she says efforts to engage with youth can seem like “box-checking exercises” that end up turning young people away. As someone with experience as a front-line volunteer with Malaysian Red Crescent ambulance crews, she says she’ll do her best to ensure the voices of young, community-based first responders are represented in the strategies, plans and decisions made by IFRC’s Governing Board. 

When Bas van Rossum was elected to represent youth on the Governing Board of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), he was the youngest person to have ever served in that role. Now as he steps down as president of IFRC’s Youth Commission, he talks about the challenges ahead. “Young people are perhaps the closest to the front lines,” he says, during a special episode recorded during the IFRC Youth Forum. “So it's really important that we listen to young volunteers and that we give them space to really shape the direction we're heading.” 

The vast majority of humanitarians killed in the last decade are not foreign aid workers, but local humanitarians who often face grave dangers simply trying to save lives in the communities where they live, says IFRC Secretary General Jagan Chapagain in this special episode, recorded during the United Nations General Assembly in late September. “More than 95 per cent of the humanitarians killed have been from local communities,” says Chapagain, who called on UN member states to protect aid workers and to take urgent action on a wide range of critical humanitarian concerns.