Stories

With temperatures rising and forests growing dryer in recent years, wildfires have become the great seasonal challenge for European civil protection. So, what does it take to be truly prepared for a wildfire season in Europe? As with all disaster response operations, time is of the essence.

In this International Year of the Woman Farmer, EU-supported projects in Markounda and Batangafo focus on seed distribution to water access and emergency response. EU Humanitarian aid is helping women, who hold families and communities together, rebuild livelihoods and put food on the table.

In Aida Camp, in the West Bank, where Bethlehem, Beit Jala, and Jerusalem converge, daily life unfolds amid constrained, crowded conditions. Here the local football pitch has become a vital community space and a rare source of recreation, connection and resilience.

Just a few years back, their days revolved around work, school, family dinners and plans for the future. All that changed once Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

After fleeing the war in Syria, many refugees in Türkiye faced challenges accessing information and essential services and understanding their rights.

Among the vast refugee camps on the hillsides of Cox’s Bazar in southern Bangladesh, Hamida lives with her 3 sons and young daughter. She arrived in Bangladesh in 2017, fleeing violence that swept through her village in Rakhine State, Myanmar.

A bullet wound. Handwritten death threats. Months spent waiting in shelters meant for temporary halts. Across Mexico, thousands are fleeing violence, poverty and disasters. Many are trapped between the dangers they escaped and borders they cannot cross.

In the village of Kafr Amma in the Aleppo countryside, 10-year-old Leen has recently returned home with her family following years of displacement caused by conflict.

In 2025, a historic monsoon season, compounded by a series of typhoons and floods, left a trail of destruction across Vietnam. For families living on the edge of the climate crisis, the disaster shattered their ability to cope and recover from some of the worst floods.

Europe had its warmest summer on record, the period from June to August 2025 was the warmest ever on a global scale, with temperatures of 0.7°C above the 1991-2020 average.

In northeast Nigeria, the night has long been a source of dread for expectant mothers. In a region where insecurity and displacement have pushed healthcare out of reach, the onset of labour after sundown

As eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo battles a fast-moving Ebola outbreak caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain, health workers are racing to contain the spread in a region already shaken by conflict, displacement and fragile health systems.

Across Myanmar, a silent crisis is unfolding, driven by decades of conflict, economic collapse, recurrent natural hazards and a critical lack of humanitarian access.

In early April 2025 there were widespread floods in Somalia, 6-year-old Faiza Abdi was among those affected. Before the floods, Faiza was attending first grade in her local primary school. Thanks to EU funds she is now back in school under a Mango tree.

For close to 10 years, EU humanitarian aid has been funding the San Raffaele hospital boat, a floating clinic which takes medical care to the most isolated and vulnerable communities affected by the ongoing conflict.

The first thing that struck me when I arrived in Hatay was the silence. Not the absence of people, as the streets of the city are busy again, but the quiet gaps existing where entire buildings once stood.

After years of displacement, families are slowly returning to Al-Tibni, a town in Deir-ez-Zor countryside in northeast Syria. Surrounded by dozens of villages across a wide agricultural region, Al-Tibni is home to tens of thousands of residents, many of whom have returned to rebuild their lives.

The EU is coordinating the largest and most complex UCPM operation ever in Ukraine. All 27 EU Member States, and 6 participating states, have provided in-kind assistance - millions of items, from first aid kits and shelter equipment to firefighting tools, water pumps, generators and fuel.

War and crisis forced 32‑year‑old Achuei to send her 6 children out of Sudan alone. She could only afford 6 tickets on a crowded truck heading towards safety. Instead of leaving one child behind, she stayed.