Emergencies and Disaster Relief

As the only NGO in the world classified by the WHO as an EMT Type 1 (Fixed and Mobile), International Medical Corps provides emergency relief—often within hours—to those hit by disaster, no matter where they are, no matter what the conditions. We also help communities with disaster preparedness, providing training that helps them move from relief to self-reliance.

Israel/Gaza Crisis

International Medical Corps is horrified by the Hamas terrorist attacks and the loss of lives in Israel. The further loss of lives in Gaza is tragically impacting civilians caught in the crossfire. Humanitarian assistance for families is critically needed across the region, so we are providing medical care and supplies, mental health, nutrition and protection services, and support for water, sanitation and hygiene.

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Responding to Flooding in Libya

After Storm Daniel brought strong winds and heavy rainfall to northeastern areas of Libya, breaching dams and devastating cities like Derna, killing thousands and displacing tens of thousands, International Medical Corps immediately responded. Our in-country teams are providing medical and mental health assistance to families displaced by the storm, while supporting local health systems with supplies and services.

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Responding to the Earthquake in Morocco

Thousands were killed, and tens of thousands displaced, after a powerful 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck 45 miles southwest of the historic city of Marrakech. International Medical Corps immediately sent an Emergency Medical Team to assess the needs around humanitarian aid, and we are working closely with local authorities and partners to provide humanitarian assistance to families affected by the quake.

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Earthquake Response in Turkey and Syria

COUNTRIES IMPACTED
Turkey, Syria

The powerful earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria in early February have killed tens of thousands of people and injured many more. International Medical Corps responded immediately, working with local governments and partners and, where possible, sending out mobile teams to directly provide medical and mental health services, protection, food, winter supplies, and clean water and sanitation.

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War in Ukraine

In response to the Russian invasion, International Medical Corps’ country team inside Ukraine is working with multinational health agencies, national authorities and local partners to expand relief efforts providing medical care, medical supplies and equipment, mental health and psychosocial support, gender-based violence treatment and prevention, and protection services to civilians and internally displaced people, as well as to refugees in Moldova, Poland and Romania. With a history in Ukraine dating from 1999, we are uniquely positioned to help.

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Confronting the Global Hunger Crisis

COUNTRIES IMPACTED
Global

In countries around the world, vulnerable populations are facing new pressure due to conflicts and displacement, extreme weather, outbreaks of disease and economic uncertainty. International Medical Corps is working to battle world hunger and food insecurity by providing food aid and livelihoods training, and by focusing on those at-risk, including women, children and displaced people.

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Treating and Vaccinating Against COVID-19

COUNTRIES IMPACTED
Global

Working with international humanitarian relief agencies, International Medical Corps is leveraging its relationships with local and national ministries of health in countries around the world, including the US, to help them treat COVID-19. We are providing expertise, equipment, training and vaccination services that help communities fight coronavirus, especially in regions where the disease is spreading quickly and where populations and health systems are particularly vulnerable.

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Crisis in Tigray

The conflict in northern Ethiopia continues expanding, with the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) squaring off against each other in the country’s northern regions and beyond. The conflict has created millions of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees while rendering more than 1,500 health facilities non-functional. In addition, emergency response efforts have been faced with numerous challenges, including widespread fuel shortages, disruption of electricity, telephone and internet networks, and logistical challenges in transporting critical supplies, including essential drugs. Despite the conflict, our teams are on the ground providing medical care and related services.

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Flooding in Pakistan

COUNTRIES IMPACTED
Pakistan

Weeks of heavy rainfall has caused widespread flooding and landslides in Pakistan, killing more than 1,000 people and damaging almost 1 million homes. International Medical Corps, which began working in the country in 1985 and has responded to every major disaster in Pakistan since 2005, is helping women, children and men whose lives have been devastated by the flooding.

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Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen

The United Nations calls Yemen the world's worst humanitarian disaster, with one-third of its 29 million people "one step from famine and starvation," and twice that number lacking access to adequate healthcare. We are providing humanitarian relief through a range of services, including nutrition, food security, gender-based violence protection and treatment, livelihoods training, and water, sanitation and hygiene.

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ONGOING

Afghanistan

Devastating Earthquakes

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2022, Ongoing

United States

Hurricane Ian

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2022, Ongoing

Puerto Rico

Hurricane Fiona

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2021, Ongoing

United States

Midwest Tornadoes

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ONGOING

Syria, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon

Syria Refugee Crisis

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ONGOING

South Sudan

Conflict and Hunger

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ONGOING

Northeast Nigeria

Conflict, Crisis and Hunger

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ONGOING

Venezuela

Humanitarian Crisis

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Country: Emergency: Year:
Afghanistan Earthquake 2022 Learn More
Haiti Earthquake 2021 Learn More
Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands Flooding 2021 Learn More
DRC Ebola Outrbeak 2018-2021 Learn More
Lebanon Beirut Explosion 2020 Learn More
Puerto Rico, Bahamas, U.S. Hurricane Dorian 2019 Learn More
Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe Cyclones Idai & Kenneth 2019 Learn More
Indonesia Tsunami & Earthquake 2018 Learn More
Philippines Typhoon Mangkhut 2018 Learn More
United States Hurricane Florence 2018 Learn More
United States Hurricane Michael 2018 Learn More
Puerto Rico, Dominca, U.S. Hurricanes Irma & Maria 2017 Learn More
Mexico Earthquakes 2017 Learn More
Yemen Cholera Outbreak 2017 Learn More
Iraq Battle for Mosul 2016-2017 Learn More
Haiti Hurricane Matthew 2016 Learn More
Ecuador Earthquake 2016
Japan Earthquake 2016
Nepal Earthquakes 2015-2016 Learn More
Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, Mali, Guinea-Bissau West Africa Ebola Outbreak 2014-2015 Learn More
Philippines Typhoon Haiyan 2013 Learn More
India Cyclone Phailin 2013

International Medical Corps rovided critically needed health care in more than 50 villages in Odisha State following Cyclone Phailin.

Japan Earthquake & Tsunami 2011 Learn More
Horn of Africa Famine 2011

We mobilized a major relief effort in southern Somalia, working with teams in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia to deliver emergency nutrition, water and sanitation services to those affected by famine in the Horn of Africa.

Libya Conflict 2011

When armed conflict breaks out in Libya, International Medical Corps is one of the first humanitarian groups to respond, providing emergency medical services administered at mobile field hospitals that we establish on the front lines. We evacuate injured patients by boat to Malta, then train local health workers. When the violence ends, we stay on to help rebuild health sector infrastructure and close gaps in key technical skills.

Haiti Earthquake 2010 Learn More
St. Lucia Humanitarian Crisis 2010

Following a fire that destroyed St. Jude Hospital in St. Lucia, International Medical Corps set up a temporary medical facility, rehabilitated the damaged hospital and provided continuing medical education for hospital staff.

Chile Earthquake & Tsunami 2010

International Medical Corps responded to a massive 8.8 quake off the coast of central Chile which caused extensive damage. Following the earthquake, a tsunami wreaked havoc in several large coastal communities, but the country’s strong national response capabilities limited the need for a major international relief effort.

Myanmar Cyclone Nargis 2008

International Medical Corps joined the international response to assist survivors of Cyclone Nargis, the worst natural disaster in the country’s history, which claimed over 100,000 lives and destroyed much of the densely-populated Irrawaddy Delta. We extended emergency care and relief supplies, then stayed on to provide farmers with the seed, tractors and fuel they need to start again.

Mozambique Community Health 2008

International Medical Corps trained health workers and heightened HIV/AIDS awareness at the community level, including the promotion of voluntary testing, counseling, teaching ways to prevent mother-to-child transmission and encouraging reproductive health.

Zimbabwe Cholera Epidemic 2008

International Medical Corps responded to a crippling cholera epidemic, providing medical supplies to local partners. Launched long-term interventions including clean water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) promotion, as well as training programs for community-based health workers in cholera prevention and case management.

Kenya Conflict 2008

International Medical Corps provided emergency medical and mental health care to thousands of those displaced amid large-scale violence sparked by disputed national election results.

Middle East Humanitarian Crisis 2007

International Medical Corps responded across a broad front to a regional crisis in the heart of the Middle East as more than two million Iraqis fled the violence of sectarian warfare and a virulent insurgency in their homeland. Provided primary health care, including psychosocial support to both refugees and host populations as Iraqis reached Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.

Lebanon Conflict 2006

International Medical Corps distributed critical health care and medical supplies to local clinics, dispensaries and hospitals overwhelmed by the needs of nearly one million people displaced by the outbreak of war in southern Lebanon.

Dagestan and Chechnya Humanitarian Crisis 2006

International Medical Corps launched training and education programs in both Dagestan and Chechnya and provided health care for those left vulnerable as a result of political turmoil.

United States Hurricane Katrina 2005

International Medical Corps deployed domestically for the first time following Hurricane Katrina. Provided mobile medical units to assist the survivors and offered psychosocial support for those who lost loved ones, homes and their entire neighborhoods to the storm.

Pakistan 2005

International Medical Corps responded within 12 hours of a major earthquake in northwestern Pakistan, delivering emergency care to survivors of a catastrophe that claims over 70,000 lives.

Indonesia Tsunami Preparedness 2005

In the Indian Ocean tsunami’s aftermath, we strengthened a local Indonesian medical relief group, partnering to create an emergency preparedness and response program for disaster-prone areas. The program was soon tested, successfully limiting damage and loss of life caused by major earthquakes in Nias in 2006 and 2007.

Sri Lanka Tsunami Relief 2004

International Medical Corps established the country’s first mental health program to assist tsunami survivors.

Indonesia Indian Ocean Tsunami 2004

Among the first international relief organizations to reach hard-hit Aceh region following the giant Indian Ocean tsunami. We are also one of the few to remain until the acute emergency ends. Provided a broad range of health care, including emergency medicine, trauma surgery, maternal and child health in some of the worst-hit communities of a disaster that claims approximately 250,000 lives across the Indian Ocean region.

Sudan (Darfur) Conflict & Displacement 2004

International Medical Corps assisted those displaced by fighting between differing ethnic and religious groups, focusing emergency relief programs on the needs of women and children displaced inside Darfur as well as those seeking refuge in eastern Chad and northern Central African Republic.

Uganda Conflict & Displacement 2003

International Medical Corps provided emergency medical relief and nutrition services to the most vulnerable of an estimated one million civilians displaced in the violence sparked by a resurgence of the Lord’s Resistance Army. We responded again three years later with mobile health clinics as increased violence led to further deterioration of health services.

Iraq Conflict 2003

International Medical Corps is one of the first international relief organizations to start work in Iraq following the US-led invasion and the only one to operate in all 18 of the country’s governorates through the height of insurgent-led violence in the years that followed.

Indonesia Humanitarian Crisis 2002

Following the terrorist bombing in Bali that claimed more than 200 lives, we provided emergency triage and lifesaving care for the wounded, then expanded our health care services and training to include counseling and educational messages on mental health, stress and trauma.

Ethiopia Hunger Crisis 2002

Amid major food crisis, International Medical Corps provided emergency nutrition program with community-based therapeutic feeding.

Afghanistan Humanitarian Crisis 2001

International Medical Corps provided emergency relief, health system development following the fall of the Taliban in the wake of 9/11. Many of those we initially trained in the 1980s rejoined us before taking leadership positions on the Ministry of Health.

Eritrea Conflict & Displacement 2000

International Medical Corps assisted many of the estimated 1 million civilians displaced by armed conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Our medical teams used mobile units and existing health centers to treat those in need. We also provided supplementary feeding to 50,000 in a dozen remote villages.

Indonesia Conflict 2000

International Medical Corps established emergency health care in Maluku and later in East Timor amid the violence that led to East Timor’s independence in 2002. We provided maternal and child health care, rebuilt a national health care training center in Dili, East Timor’s capital.

Russian Federation Conflict 2000

International Medical Corps provided primary health care, psychosocial and mental health support and public health outreach on tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS prevention to communities in Ingushetia caught up in the Russo-Chechen war.

Sierra Leone Conflict 1999

International Medical Corps provided healthcare and trained new healthcare workers for residents of the war-torn country. We also screened demobilized combatants, including child soldiers, who had been tortured and forced to join rebel ranks.

Georgia Conflict 1998

International Medical Corps implemented health programs for nearly 300,000 displaced inside the country as a result of chronic ethnic and civil strife that first began seven years earlier with the Soviet Union’s breakup and Georgia’s independence.

Kosovo Humanitarian Crisis 1998

International Medical Corps was among the first humanitarian groups to enter Kosovo after the NATO bombings. Our mobile medical clinics provided emergency and primary health care to survivors of ethnic cleansing there and elsewhere in the Balkans, including Albania and Macedonia.

Kenya Humanitarian Crisis 1998

Following terrorist attack on U.S. embassy in Nairobi, International Medical Corps trained over 550 local health staff as medics for emergency response.

Democratic Republic of Congo Conflict & Displacement 1998

International Medical Corps offered emergency health care to those displaced by civil war.

Honduras Hurricane Mitch 1998

International Medical Corps provided emergency health care in remote villages to survivors of Hurricane Mitch.

Southern Sudan (now South Sudan) Humanitarian Crisis 1994

International Medical Corps helped renovate a major hospital, reactivate the surgical unit and implement an immunization training program for over 1,300 children.

Rwanda Humanitarian Crisis 1994

International Medical Corps responded within a few days to the convulsion of genocide, provided emergency health care to survivors. With many medical specialists lost in the chaos, we set up a training program that helped lay the groundwork for a new health care sector.

Bosnia Humanitarian Crisis 1993

Drawn by brutal ethnic cleansing and civilian suffering accompanying the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, International Medical Corps began working in Europe for the first time. We conducted emergency medicine training for physicians, created an ambulance system and deployed mobile clinics. We also launched our first mental health program to support those with psychological trauma resulting from the war, focusing on young children and teenagers.

Namibia Water Crisis 1993

International Medical Corps developed nearly 30 wells on a water resource project in Namibia, then transfered operational responsibility to local officials, creating a greater measure of self-reliance.

Thailand & Cambodia Humanitarian Crisis 1992

Working initially from Thailand, we developed maternal- and child-health training materials for Cambodian refugees. Later in the year, we launched a training program inside Cambodia to promote positive health behavior, deliver maternal- and child-health services, and refer patients for substantive care.

Somalia Conflict & Famine 1991

Our emergency relief teams went to Somalia as the first American non-governmental organization in the country. We braved civil war to deliver desperately needed war-related surgery to civilians injured in the capital, Mogadishu, then followed up with a nutrition program for those caught up in an ensuing famine that grips vast areas of central Somalia. The speed and reach of our response furthered our reputation as an organization prepared to go where we are needed most.

Angola Conflict 1990

International Medical Corps ventured into dangerous areas of Angola where few relief agencies were willing to go, delivering emergency healthcare to civilians trapped on both sides of the countries civil war. Our work expanded after we successfully convinced the warring parties to allow us to reach those in greatest need. Locally trained vaccinators immunized thousands of children and women against preventable disease. In addition, we expanded to build self-reliance with nutrition and agriculture programs.

Honduras Conflict 1989

Our teams deployed to Honduras, providing reconstructive surgery and healthcare for those displaced by armed conflict in Nicaragua.

Afghanistan Humanitarian Crisis 1984

Unable to stand by and watch an entire people deprived of basic healthcare, International Medical Corps was born with a pioneering approach: train Afghan civilians as advanced medics, then support and supply them as they return to Soviet-occupied Afghanistan to treat residents in their home communities. The unprecedented program was a success, establishing our work and the important role of training in humanitarian assistance.

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