Today, in the Philippines, young people whose lives have been turned upside down by repeated typhoons are planting mangrove trees to protect homes from storm damage and protect fish-pond dykes to ensure more secure livelihoods.

Today, in Gambia, young musicians are delivering powerful messages, through music, about vaccines, malaria prevention and HIV to increase community access to much needed health care. In Romania, youth volunteers are spreading similar messages through an innovative SMS helpline.

Today, in Afghanistan, where the conflict and its resulting insecurity prevents many from safely accessing health care, thousands of volunteers are learning basic first aid techniques, thereby safeguarding vital access to primary health care for their communities.

Like armed conflicts, natural disasters take a heavy toll on societies every year. 

Evidence shows that domestic and sexual violence rise in the aftermath of natural disasters. This phenomena has received surprinsingly little attention, until the recent publication of an IFRC/Canadian Red Cross report on the subject. 

On March 28, Susan Johnson, general director for international operations at the Canadian Red Cross, presented that report at Brookings here in Washington and provided evidence that the interplay between inter-personal violence and post-disaster situations impacts thousands of women, children and elderly people every year.

In his capacity as personal advisor to the ICRC president, Alexandre Liebeskind accompanied Mr. Kellenberger to the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, an event they have attended since 2009.

While the Arab Spring featured in a number of discussions at Davos, the revolutions of last year were, perhaps understandably, overshadowed by the state of the world economy. A pessimistic mood reportedly prevailed at the Swiss resort.

In Davos, Mr. Kellenberger and his advisor met with a number of foreign dignitaries and heads of development agencies interested in the unique world view of the ICRC. Syria and Somalia, contexts where the ICRC is operational, were of particular interest this year.

Mr. Liebeskind explains why the ICRC attends the WEF, what it did there and what the trends of interest to the organization were.