A woman giving birth alone in a forest is not an unusual story in Myanmar. But now a new Red Cross maternal and child health care programme is delivering much-needed change.

As one of the poorest countries in the world, maternal and child health in Myanmar is among the worst in south-east Asia. Over 70 per cent of deliveries are home births and of those, 43 per cent are not attended by a skilled health worker.

Mohammed and his six children have recently arrived in the Ajloun governorate of Jordan, 47 miles north-west of Amman. The 33-year-old Syrian came to escape Zaatari refugee camp, which his children couldn’t bear during the harsh winter.

We meet Mohammed on a Wednesday morning at the Jordanian Red Crescent branch in Ajloun. He is one of the 256 vulnerable people in Ajloun who the Red Crescent has carefully selected to receive a cash grant, to pay for accommodation and household items.

This is a guest blog by Julia Brothwell, a member of our disaster management team who recently returned from Jordan.

As news broke that one million Syrians were seeking refuge in countries neighbouring Syria, I was on my way to Za’atari Camp in Jordan – temporary home to 140,000 refugees. I saw new toilet and washroom facilities being built on the outskirts of the camp. Soon tents and shelters made from containers will spring up to fill the gaps between the breeze-block structures.

This is a guest blog by Luke Tredget in Chaquelane, Mozambique. Luke is part of a team of sanitation experts who were sent to the country by the British Red Cross last month.

When severe downpours battered Mozambique at the beginning of the year, swollen rivers broke their banks and flooded homes. This lead to mass evacuations in the southern tip of the country.

Hundreds of thousands of people were affected by the floods, and the entire town of Chokwe was forced to evacuate.

What a difference a year makes. Last year on World Water Day, the Red Cross water and sanitation programme in Chivi district, south-east Zimbabwe hadn’t even started. This year, the region has 50 new water points, 180 trained community health volunteers and 3,000 families now have access to clean water.

Matilda Cooper, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegate, has spent the past year working to protect and rebuild communities in the Western Bahr el Ghazal region of South Sudan. Here, she talks about the challenges that face the world’s youngest country following nearly four decades of civil war.

Given that South Sudan has so many humanitarian issues to focus on, what have been the key priorities for the ICRC?

By now, you’ll probably have seen photos of Red Cross and Red Crescent trucks taking aid to vulnerable Syrians. You might also have read the blog by the British Red Cross logistics manager explaining how we source supplies and transport aid.

Majority of humanitarian needs in Syria not being met, says British Red Cross

• Sir Nick Young, Head of British Red Cross just back from Syria

• Red Cross Red Crescent Movement reaching close to 2 million people each month, but over 4 million people desperately in need

• Aid in Syria only reaching 35-40% of people as humanitarian situation worsens across country

• Urgent need for more food and medicine

Volunteering with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent is a commitment. Shifts are long, and the work is hard and dangerous. Most of the Red Crescent’s first aid volunteers are in their 20s, and many are juggling university studies along with their duties.

Volunteers are trained by the Red Crescent for a year before they are qualified to join a first aid unit. Despite the conflict, the Red Crescent has been able to continue recruiting and training first aid and psychosocial support volunteers.