2024 in review – making an impact against all odds

The ongoing crises in our partner countries intensified further over the past year. In eastern Chad, the fragile healthcare system came under even greater pressure as hundreds of thousands of refugees arrived from Sudan. In Afghanistan, the Taliban tightened restrictions on women, who are now almost entirely excluded from public life. Bangladesh was shaken by severe flooding and political instability following a controversial change of government. And in Ethiopia, local conflicts and a currency crisis created further challenges. These developments also affected our work.
 

Thanks to the dedication and flexibility of our team, we were nevertheless able to keep our ongoing projects running and, working hand in hand with local partners, launch additional relief initiatives. In Chad, our partner organisation BASE expanded a health centre by adding a maternity room to provide the best possible care for pregnant women who had fled Sudan. It also distributed emergency kits to mothers with newborn babies. In Bangladesh, our local partner LAMB set up mobile health posts in flood-affected areas within just a few weeks, providing life-saving medicines to communities cut off from the outside world.
 

As challenging as these developments were, they also highlighted new areas where support is urgently needed and which we will focus on in the future. In Chad, we will continue to support women and young children who have fled Sudan. In Bangladesh, we are planning to establish sustainable healthcare services in Kurigram district, where access to healthcare is currently almost non-existent.
 

Thanks to reliable, well-functioning partnerships with local organisations and stakeholders – and, above all, to the trust and generous support of countless individuals, foundations and public institutions – we are still able to help people in countries affected by crisis make a difference in their lives. In 2024, for example, local healthcare professionals helped more than 11,000 women give birth safely – twice as many as in the previous year. Find out what else we have achieved together on the following page. Thank you for your valued support!