The economic crisis and its humanitarian impact on Europe / October 2009 //
1
Testimonies from the Red Cross Red Crescent
The economic crisis
and its humanitarian impact
on Europe
REUTERS/Kevin CoombsOctober 2009
The economic crisis and its humanitarian impact on Europe / October 2009 //
2
Things must be bad when increasing numbers
of people go to their local Red Cross or Red
Crescent Society for help with the basic neces-
sities of life – including some who would never
normally think of seeking assistance from a
charitable body. National Society branches,
with their unique grass-roots reach in all coun-
tries, are an invaluable socio-economic barom-
eter of the times.
This study recognizes the weakness of statisti-
cal data on how the economic crisis has affect-
ed households in the 52 countries of the Inter-
national Federation’s “European” administrative
region – including Central Asia and the Cau-
casus, and does not seek to fill the gap. What it
does try to do, is provide a window on the ex-
perience and perceptions of Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies, which are very well placed
to detect changes in vulnerability and the needs
of households – possibly faster than they can
be precisely measured by rigorous statistical
methods.
The study is based on a series of detailed inter-
views with National Society staff and volunteers
in nearly every country in the region, who say
that large populations across the whole conti-
nent are suffering serious consequences, and
that their branches are struggling to keep up
with demand for new assistance, at a time when
their own resources are also under pressure.
While governments are to be commended for
committing trillions of dollars to rescuing
banks and financial structures, there is little
evidence of the same commitment to the social
crisis – such as expanding welfare safety nets,
initiating new safeguards, adapting existing
programmes to meet the new vulnerability, or
even just increased allocation in the sector.
The crisis has pushed mil