Press Release – 16/12/2024

Panama/Geneva, 16 December – In response to escalating threats posed by the climate crisis, increasing disasters and biodiversity loss, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has announced the reactivation of its Amazon Programme, The Red Cross Alliance for the Amazon. This initiative, initially uniting the National Red Cross Societies of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela, aims to enhance community resilience and support those affected by climate impacts in the Amazon rainforest.  

The Red Cross’s local presence and global reach make it a key partner in protecting Amazonian communities and ecosystems. With branches and volunteers embedded in all nine Amazonian countries, the Red Cross combines deep local knowledge with expertise in risk reduction, climate resilience, and humanitarian operations to address the region’s growing needs. 

The Amazon, home to 10% of all known species and responsible for generating 20% of the world’s oxygen, is nearing a tipping point. Deforestation, wildfires, and extractive activities—compounded by extreme climate events such as floods, fires and prolonged droughts—threaten the lives and the livelihoods of over 40 million people, including 350 groups of Indigenous Peoples. 

“At the heart of our proposal is the convergence of indigenous knowledge, Red Cross experience, and technological and research developments. This formula, implemented in close coordination with states, indigenous peoples and other stakeholders, will maximise efforts to strengthen community resilience and anticipate and respond to crises affecting Amazonian populations”, said Xavier Castellanos, IFRC Under Secretary General, National Society Development and Operations Coordination. 

The Red Cross Alliance for the Amazon focuses on disaster risk management and climate resilience, community health, sustainable livelihoods and response to disasters and climate displacement. Harmonising, maximising and streamlining the Red Cross work in these areas will help anticipate and reduce the impact of hazards which could be exacerbated by the climate crisis in the coming years.  

From January to August this year alone, fires destroyed 62,268 square kilometres of the Amazon, an area twelve times the size of the city of London. Compounded by a historic drought, this devastation has severely affected access to health and food and increased the risk of climate-induced displacement. 

Faced with such multi-crisis scenarios, the Red Cross is already working in several communities in the Amazon.  

In Ecuador, volunteers are working with indigenous peoples to implement agricultural techniques that reduce the risk of droughts, contributing to income diversification and ecosystem restoration to improve food and economic security.  

In Colombia, the Red Cross provides health care and access to medicines in remote and hard-to-reach areas. 

The Red Cross Alliance for the Amazon builds upon solid experience. Red Cross Societies in Amazonian countries have collaborated with over 53 Amazonian communities to promote community health and reduce the risk of disasters. This new effort seeks to scale up these successes while aligning with the IFRC’s global expertise in climate resilience and disaster management.  

For more information and to set up an interview, please contact: [email protected]   

In Panama: Susana Arroyo Barrantes +50769993199  

In Geneva: Tommaso Della Longa +41797084367 
Hannah Copeland +41762369109  

Source : ifrc