Red Vest

Three years of conflict in Sudan have caused the largest mass displacement of people in the world. While the crisis gets little outside attention and support, the people of Sudan persevere. In this episode of Red Vest podcast, we hear from the people working every day to get the word out, and make life better for millions of people stuck in limbo, living in makeshift tents and shelters in massive...

Part 2 in Red Vest podcast's series for the International Year of Volunteers. In this episode Red Vest podcast takes you around the world, from Switzerland to Venezuela and Myanmar, to explore the many ways volunteering opens up new pathways and opportunities even as it pushes people beyond their comfort zone. We share these stories because too often they go untold, despite the fact that locally b...

With 2026 being designated as the ‘Year of the Volunteers’, Red Ves t launches the first in a series of podcasts exploring the key questions and challenges at the heart of volunteering. In this episode, we visit a welcome centre for refugees in Geneva, Switzerland where we explore the question at the heart of volunteering: what is it that drives people to help others, even when there’s no expectat...

Even in places where tropical storms are normal a part of life, the destructive power of Hurricane Melissa and the two recent Typhoons in the Philippines came as a shock to the millions of people who lived through them. When Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica, for example, it was classified as a Category 5 — the strongest storm the island nation has ever experienced. Why are tropical...

This episode Red Vest podcast takes you on an immersive journey to remote villages in northern Nigeria. There, you will meet the Mothers Clubs and Papas Clubs that are challenging social norms in order to tackle a severe and persistent hunger crisis and improve the health of their communities. We’ll also introduce you to another very important character known as “Tom Brown. “ But you’ll have to li...

It’s one of the most demanding and unusual humanitarian missions happening in the world today, and it’s being carried out at sea, by the crew of the Ocean Viking rescue vessel.  Chartered by SOS MEDITERRANEE in partnership with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the ship patrols the Mediterranean Sea to rescue people in deep distress at sea.  Cre...

As Muslims around the world celebrate Ramadan, IFRC’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, Hossam Elsharkawi, reflects on the humanitarian crises impacting his region and on what Muslims consider a sacred month of fasting, giving and prayer. “Through fasting, you feel what's it like to be hungry, what's it like to be thirsty,” says Elsharkawi.  “Ramadan is al...

How will technology shape the way we respond to emergencies? What is ‘human biology’ and how is it connected to human rights? What are the big challenges ahead for global health during uncertain times? Loyce Pace, IFRC’s new Regional Director for the America, is well placed to explore these questions. With a long background in community and global health advocacy, she most recently served as Assis...

What does it take to manage humanitarian crisis response for a massive continent dealing with a wide range of challenges – conflict, mass population movements, epidemics, tropical storms, drought and a widespread hunger crisis. Find out how IFRC’s new regional director for the Africa region, Charles Businge, plans to tackle these challenges and how his upbringing in Uganda shaped him for the task...

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...

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...

“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...

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 fee...

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 m...

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 Rig...

“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 “peculi...

 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 turnin...

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 e...

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 ha...

It’s quite common to refer to volunteers and first-responders as ‘heroes’. After all, they often risk their lives to save others. But in some cases, can that hero narrative do more harm than good? Ukraine Red Cross volunteer and IFRC Youth Commission member Maryna Kozhedub answers unequivocally ‘yes’, especially for young volunteers. Calling them heroes in conflict situations puts unreal expectati...

Federico Rios Escobar has spent more than a decade documenting the epic struggles of migrants in South and Central America. The hardships they face in the roadless jungle known as the Darien Gap go beyond anything he’s seen before. “There’s only one way to cross and it’s on foot,” he says. “There's the mud, rain, humidity, the hot sun, rivers that suddenly grow, landslides — and many migrants have...

Can Costa Rica’s largest ambulance fleet become completely carbon neutral? How can we better work with the forces of nature to protect our communities from natural calamities? Is it possible to save lives and save the planet at the same time? These are some of the questions that the first woman president of the Costa Rican Red Cross, Dyanne Marenco Gonzalez, tackles during this wide-ranging interv...

A 25-year veteran of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, Violaine des Rosiers has served as an emergency response humanitarian worker in more than 30 countries, including Palestine, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Liberia and, most recently, Ukraine. In her home country of Canada, she also served as CEO of two social innovation organizations. With all these experiences, she has a lot to say about ways humanita...

Born in the Deir El-Balah refugee camp in Gaza, Mohammed Alburai worked as a volunteer ambulance driver for the Palestine Red Crescent before leaving for Slovenia in 2019. Now a cultural mediator and translator for the Slovenian Red Cross, Mohammed helps migrants and refugees cope with their new life in Slovenia. He helps migrants connect with lost family members, organizes sports and social event...

Dr. Asha Mohammed began her career as a dentist in low-income communities in Kenya. Her passion for helping others and her evident leadership skills led her to key roles battling HiV/AIDS and, eventually, to the role of Secretary General of the Kenya Red Cross. She now serves as IFRC’s Permanent Representative to the African Union and International Organizations in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. From ther...