Starting in January 2014, ISIS took over large areas of Anbar and Ninewa governorates, as well as areas of Kirkuk and elsewhere. Operations to clear these areas from ISIS control and prepare for an advance on Mosul – a city 400 km north of Baghdad currently under ISIS control – have been occurring since 2015. On 17 October 2016, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi announced that military operations to re-take Mosul from ISIS had commenced.

Yaza has been out of school for nearly four years. His family had fled their home in the countryside near Idlib to a makeshift camp in Lebanon. Living conditions were difficult and his parents struggled to find work. So at the tender age of 12, Yaza decided to provide for his family by working for a tailor in Beirut.

Yaza has been out of school for nearly four years. His family had fled their home in the countryside near Idlib to a makeshift camp in Lebanon. Living conditions were difficult and his parents struggled to find work. So at the tender age of 12, Yaza decided to provide for his family by working for a tailor in Beirut.

The escalation of armed conflict in Mali is having grave consequences for civilians already suffering  the effects of political instability, mass displacement and severe food shortages.

The IRC is delighted to announce that ITV News has won the Television News Award at the One World Media Awards for coverage, shot directly from the IRC's Hagadera Hospital, of the devastating famine in East Africa. 

An IRC assessment of five provinces in Afghanistan reveals the dramatic impact of drought on communities in Herat, Badghis, Pakitya, Helmand and Khost.

As highlighted by the emergence of the #MeToo movement, violence against women and girls is a global health problem of epidemic proportion. But for women and girls caught up in conflict and crisis, where the rule of law breaks down and where the things that protect women, such as safe housing, are removed, the situation is significantly worse.

Women and girls make up half of all refugees and people displaced by crisis worldwide, and an estimated 225 million women living in developing countries are in need of contraception.