The Los Angeles wildfires in January 2025 marked the beginning of a year full of humanitarian challenges. Natural disasters, outbreaks of infectious disease and ongoing conflicts around the world led to displaced families, hungry children and the overwhelming need for emergency health services. But as always, our teams remained steadfast in our mission of providing humanitarian aid and training, serving millions of people in nearly 30 countries. Thanks to generous support from our donors, we tackled immense obstacles, finding new and innovative ways to support communities combating disease, displacement, malnutrition, and a lack of access to safe water, modern hygiene and protection services.
When the Los Angeles fires raged for weeks in southern California, International Medical Corps leapt into action, providing medical care and psychosocial support for thousands of displaced Angelenos reeling from the loss of their homes and communities. The deadly fires were a stark reminder for many that disaster can strike anywhere, at any time—and that the sting of loss lingers long after the headlines and support campaigns dwindle.
In Afghanistan, when powerful earthquakes killed nearly 2,000 people and displaced thousands of families, our teams delivered clean water, temporary shelters, winterization kits and hygiene supplies while mobile medical staff provided counseling and emergency care to survivors. In the wake of catastrophic floods in Pakistan, our mobile medical teams launched a comprehensive response in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, providing psychosocial support to affected communities, supplying essential medicines and rehabilitating water systems in damaged health facilities. And following a devastating earthquake in central Myanmar, we partnered with local authorities to deploy a mobile Emergency Medical Team (EMT) Type 1 field hospital, directly treating more than 1,400 patients who had nowhere else to turn for prompt medical care and supporting health partners who cared for thousands more.
In high-pressure conflict zones, our mobile medical teams provided critical services to displaced communities experiencing violence. In November, we opened our third field hospital in Gaza, where we have so far provided some 850,000 consultations to civilians affected by the war and safely delivered more than 9,200 babies. In Ukraine, attacks on civilian infrastructure and the healthcare system remained an almost-daily occurrence, further compounding Ukrainians’ suffering. We continued to provide medical services and support while prioritizing the mental well-being of affected populations through tailored mental health and psychosocial support interventions, and supporting women and girls affected by violence through specialized case management services available at our women’s and girls’ safe spaces (WGSS).
As usual, we continued to focus on training, which underpins all we do and is an essential part of building resilience in the communities where we work. To increase preparedness for frontline and emergency health workers, our Emergency Response Unit (ERU) launched a suite of trauma and mass-casualty preparedness training programs that they could bring worldwide, using a highly effective “cascade model approach” in which newly trained local trainers teach subsequent courses. Members of the ERU traveled to Syria and Jamaica in the spring to deliver these courses, and to Nigeria in the fall, leaving a legacy of trauma preparedness and bolstering frontline capacity in their wake.
When our team in Chad saw the warning signs of a cholera disaster in Dougui refugee camp, our medical team moved quickly to intervene, hiring and training a multidisciplinary rapid-response team that was able to stabilize the outbreak in just a few months and set a new pace for patient recovery. Our team has so far discharged more than 630 cholera patients in the camp, and continues to train healthcare workers there on best practices in hygiene, cholera prevention and response. And in October, our staff in Libya delivered lifesaving training in Kufra to national health staff—including doctors, nurses and ambulance workers—equipping them with the critical skills needed to respond to emergencies and save lives.
Around the world, our Nutrition teams battled the global hunger crisis, treating children and adults suffering from malnutrition with therapeutic food and comprehensive nutrition counseling. In Ethiopia, our teams delivered poultry sets containing hens, feed and vaccines to families—harnessing local knowledge and experience to teach families to feed themselves through long-term backyard gardening and poultry farming. And going door-to-door in South Sudan proved highly effective in the battle against malnutrition, where community nutrition volunteers trained mothers and caregivers to identify child malnutrition while promoting diverse, healthy eating practices.
In places where clean water is scarce or even inaccessible, our water, sanitation and hygiene initiatives transformed communities by using simple technologies and widespread hygiene promotion. In rural Afghanistan, we brought safe drinking water to thousands of families by creating seven solar-powered water supply systems. In Zimbabwe, villagers took ownership of their water and long-term health when we supported the construction of community boreholes and helped to establish local water management committees.
These 10 photographs, taken over the course of the last year, bring the incredible work of our global teams—as well as the communities we serve—into focus. We hope that these images bring you a renewed sense of hope and optimism as we move into 2026. Together, we can create a better, more resilient world where people have access to healthcare, mothers survive childbirth, children are nourished and families can thrive. Thank you for standing with us—before, during and after disaster strikes.
Staff member Ryan Haliday distributes hygiene and first-aid kits to families affected by the catastrophic wildfires that swept through southern California in January 2025.
Catastrophic monsoon floods in Pakistan affected more than 6.9 million people, with some 3.5 million forced to leave their homes. International Medical Corps launched a comprehensive response, deploying mobile medical teams to deliver essential healthcare. Here, Manhoor, 6, holds medicine she received from International Medical Corps staff.
A young girl receives the first dose of a round of vaccines at our field hospital in Al Zawaida, Gaza, as part of a comprehensive vaccine campaign across the region targeting children who have been cut off from essential health services during the conflict.
A young girl participates in an event to mark the six-month anniversary of the International Medical Corps Women’s and Girls’ Safe Space (WGSS), established in Kryvyi Rih in March 2025 to provide services, as well as a secure and supportive environment, for women and girls in Ukraine affected by violence.
An International Medical Corps Community Health Worker talks to a mother about healthy eating practices as he screens her child for malnutrition during a door-to-door community engagement session in PK3 camp for internally displaced people in Bria, Central African Republic.
A young girl smiles for a portrait as she waits for a family member to finish a medical consultation at our mobile medical unit in the village of Al-Sahwa, where communities have been displaced and without access to healthcare during the escalation of conflict in southern Syria.
Participants attend lecture sessions and conduct skill station exercises during a three-day trauma management course developed by International Medical Corps.
International Medical Corps nurse Sobdibe Samuel checks the IV drip for Abdulbassid Mohamed, 11, at our field hospital in Dougui camp for Sudanese refugees. He is shown here surrounded by his family as they wait for the vehicle that will transfer him to the nearby hospital in Metché refugee camp for emergency surgery to remove his appendix.
An International Medical Corps health worker travels on foot to the village of Tarseen, Sudan, where our team provided emergency relief and essential supplies to communities affected by the devastating landslide that struck the area in late August 2025.
Children smile in celebration during a World Mental Health Day event organized by International Medical Corps’ Mental Health and Psychosocial Support team in Kufra for Sudanese refugees. These events increase understanding of mental health among refugees and the host community, encourage early help-seeking and reduce stigma related to mental illness.
For 41 years, International Medical Corps has responded to numerous global crises in more than 85 countries, providing essential care and humanitarian aid to millions. We respond immediately when disaster strikes to help communities recover, and providing the training and tools they need to recover, rebuild and become more resilient. Learn more about our mission.