In a dark mud hut, VSLA members crowded around the communal safety deposit box. One by one they were called to present their passbooks, where ink stamped stars denoted the number of shares each of them had bought every week during the past months. Chantal, who cannot read or write, had only a vague idea of how much cash she would receive. She certainly didn’t expect it to be in excess of 80,000 Congolese francs (£53)—a small fortune in this area, where most families make ends meet with 60p a day or less.

More than two years after the United Nations declared an official famine in Somalia, over one million people are still without adequate food, water, medical care and other essentials.

Low access and coverage for the treatment of acute malnutrition is as persistent and perplexing as it is unacceptable. The leading barriers to combatting malnutrition—distance to services and high opportunity costs—require a new approach.

In 1996 violent conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo forced people to flee their homes, often with little more than the clothes on their backs.

Nyarugusu Refugee Camp in Northwestern Tanzania was established in 1996, when civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) forced people to flee their homes, often with little more than the clothes on their backs, and cross Lake Tanganyika into Tanzania. Today, more than 65,000 Congolese and Burundian refugees live in Nyarugusu, over half of whom are children.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, girls lacking in educational opportunities are at risk of early marriage and pregnancy, which is reinforcing cycles of poverty and hindering the country’s development. The International Rescue Committee is mounting a systematic effort to ensure girls are enrolled and succeeding in Congo’s classrooms, so they can take control of their futures through education, and contribute toward the development of their communities.

As a contribution to the ongoing policy discussions on adapting humanitarian response to urban contexts, the US and UK governments hosted a side event at the Red Cross Red Crescent International Conference in Geneva, in December 2015.

The International Rescue Committee is responding to a deadly outbreak of cholera in the world’s largest refugee camp, Dadaab, situated in northern Kenya near the Somalian border. Since November, more than 347 people including children have been infected with the highly contagious disease. With the onset of the rainy season, the IRC is concerned the epidemic could continue to spread, making already poor living conditions even worse.

"I had to leave my house because of the fighting. Life here is not good; it's really hard to find something to eat and there's nothing to do. Sometimes I meet other girls who live here and we play together or go to church. I don't feel safe here and I'm afraid a lot, especially at night. My dream is that the fighting will stop so that I can go home again."

When Ebola appeared in Lofa County in rural Liberia last spring, the disease proved devastating. Whole families were wiped out as the virus ravaged villages. Hundreds of new cases appeared every week and hospitals and health centres buckled under the strain, leaving the sick to die in their homes or on the sides of roads.