The earthquake that struck Haiti two months ago has brought new challenges for people with disabilities and chronic illnesses. The Red Cross is supporting a tuberculosis sanatorium in Léogane and a rehabilitation centre for children with disabilities in Port-au-Prince.

Seven weeks after the earthquake struck, the ICRC continues to respond to people's vital needs in many stricken parts of Haiti. Over the past fortnight it has reunited four children with their families in Port-au-Prince.

Riccardo Conti, the ICRC's head of delegation in Haiti, witnessed the powerful earthquake that struck the island one month ago. He looks back at the first days of the emergency response, marked by incredible solidarity between the survivors, and speaks of the challenges that lie ahead.

As rescue operations get underway in Haiti, one of the distressing questions facing rescue workers will be “How do we deal with the dead?”

Six weeks on from the earthquake that shattered parts of Haiti on 12 January, the ICRC's Jessica Barry went to find out how people in and around the capital Port-au-Prince are coping now. Haitians are demonstrating remarkable resilience in the face of overwhelming destruction and personal tragedy.

With overcrowding as high as 80% in Haiti’s places of detention, the country’s inmates face increased health risks – a situation made far gloomier following the devastation caused by the January earthquake. The ICRC is intensifying work it has been carrying out in prisons for years to improve the lot of detainees.

Since 12 January, tens of thousands of people have been living a hand-to-mouth existence on the streets of Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital. During a recent food distribution, Jessica Barry talked with families living in the garden of the prime minister's office, the Primature.

Marie Yolaine lost nine members of her family to the earthquake. One of her two surviving children then mysteriously disappeared – his body was found the following day. She came to the Haitian Red Cross for help. Simon Schorno, ICRC spokesperson, tells her story from Port-au-Prince.

Protecting unaccompanied children and restoring links between them and their families is one of the ICRC’s top priorities in Haiti. Marc Studer is in charge of restoring family links in Port-au-Prince. He explains how the ICRC works in partnership with the Haitian Red Cross, UNICEF and local organizations.

The ICRC and the Haitian Red Cross have recently set up four water distribution points in Cité Soleil. For many of the shantytown's poorest residents, this is the only clean water available.

Twenty-five-year-old Jude Celoge is head of the Haitian Red Cross team in Martissant. Along with other volunteers, he was one of the first rescue workers on the scene when Darlene Etienne was found alive after 15 days buried under the rubble.

Coriolain (31) has been with the Red Cross for six years. Right now, he is one of many volunteer first-aiders working in Port-au-Prince. He is living and working in an improvized camp located in a football stadium, in the Carrefour area of the capital. Coriolain shares the camp with over 2,800 others, all surviving in difficult circumstances. With the support of the ICRC, the Haitian Red Cross has opened a first-aid post in the camp, where the needs remain great.

Over 20,000 people displaced by the earthquake live in a sprawling makeshift camp in Bel Air, one of the poorest districts in Port-au-Prince. Because the neighbourhood has long been plagued by street violence and is perceived to be unsafe, few humanitarian organizations are active there today, despite the hardship its population has faced since last week's earthquake. The ICRC and the Haitian Red Cross set up two first-aid posts in the Bel Air camp two days ago. Until then, it had been difficult for displaced people living there to obtain medical care.

A few hours after a strong aftershock jolted thousands of earthquake victims in Port-au-Prince awake on Wednesday morning, people lined up to call loved ones via satellite phones provided by the ICRC.

Chantal Pitaud (43) joined the Haitian Red Cross in 1991 and is now in charge of their restoring family links programme. Like everyone else in Port-au-Prince, Chantal has been greatly affected by the 12 January earthquake. For the last week, she has been helping reunite families separated by the tragedy. This is her story.

With most gang leaders in jail, the violence that ravaged Cité Soleil between 2003 and 2007 has abated. But poverty fuels discontent, and the victims of violence remain one of the most vulnerable sectors of the population.

Building back better after the four consecutive killer storms that ravaged Haiti in 2008 is a challenge for a country suffering poverty, environmental degradation and donor fatigue.

The work of Haitian Red Cross volunteers is dangerous and stressful as they evacuate the sick and wounded from the slums of Port-au-Prince and discuss life and death decisions with gang leaders.

Midwives Marie Joseph and Françoise understand the suffering of women in Cité Soleil. Marie Joseph’s daughter and Françoise’s niece have been victims of the rampant sexual violence in Haiti’s sprawling waterside slum. Trained by the Red Cross, the two midwives help evacuate pregnant and sexually abused women to hospital.

Five award-winning war photographers from the VII photo agency – James Nachtwey, Franco Pagetti, Antonin Kratchovil, Ron Haviv and Christopher Morris - and the ICRC united to bring individual stories of loss and suffering in war to the forefront of the world’s attention: women struggling to recover from sexual violence, families coping with displacement, and people victimized by gang warfare. The project also drew attention to the inspirational efforts, by ordinary men and women, to limit human suffering in some of the most violent corners of the world. This DVD features 10 multimedia clips from eight war-affected countries.

The Cité-Soleil shantytown in Port-au-Prince has been the scene of deadly clashes between armed groups and UN forces. Local people live in abject poverty against a backdrop of violence, without even basic services to make their lives more bearable. Together, the ICRC and the Haitian Red Cross are providing an ambulance service for the sick and wounded, repairing water points and seeking to give some hope again to the people of Cité-Soleil.

The earthquake in Haiti has been particularly devastating for children who lost their parents. ICRC child protection adviser Kristin Barstad explains what the organization is doing alongside other agencies to find the best solution to the plight of unaccompanied children.

Last week’s earthquake seriously disrupted Port-au-Prince’s water supply. Robert Mardini leads the water and habitat unit at ICRC headquarters in Geneva. He explains what the organization is doing to restore water supplies and provide sanitation facilities.

Following the recent devastating earthquake in Haiti, thousands of people left with no news of their loved ones are living in anguish. Robert Zimmerman, deputy head of the ICRC's central tracing agency and protection division discusses the problem and what the organization is doing to help people trace missing relatives.

While the ICRC is focusing its efforts on bringing medical aid to the most vulnerable and assessing water needs, it is also struggling to support a health-care system in ruins. Elisabeth Le Saout, the deputy head of the ICRC's health unit, describes health priorities and challenges when disaster strikes.

In January 2008, the head of the ICRC’s regional delegation in Buenos Aires, Michel Minnig, addressed the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs of the Organization of American States on the subject of internal violence. In this interview, he reviews the main points of his statement.

Photos illustrating the situation in Haiti following the January 2010 earthquake and the ICRC's response. Media outlets are welcome to download and use these photos, which are also available in high resolution.

Photos illustrating the situation in Haiti following the January 2010 earthquake and the ICRC's response. Media outlets are welcome to download and use these photos, which are also available in high resolution. New photos will be added every day

When four deadly storms battered Haiti during the last hurricane season, well-prepared volunteers and staff stepped in to save lives. Article published in the Red Cross Red Crescent Magazine, No 1, 2009.

To raise awareness of the impact of armed conflict or other situations of armed violence on civilians, in 2009 the ICRC conducted a vast research programme in eight of the most troubled countries in the world. This report presents the consolidated results of the survey in Haiti.

The need for urgent medical aid for earthquake survivors is desperate. Health care personnel from all over the world have joined forces to treat the wounded. Field hospitals and operating theatres have been set up for the most severe cases. Shortly after the disaster struck, first-aid posts were set up by the Haitian Red Cross and the ICRC, providing basic health care to tens of thousands living in makeshift camps.

The water supply in Port-au-Prince was already in a critical state but the earthquake made the situation far worse as the supply network was crushed and fractured. Tens of thousands of people were left without safe water. Setting up self contained water storage and distribution systems was an immediate priority for the ICRC.

In Haiti, thousands of people live in anguish, unsure whether their relatives are buried under the rubble or alive and unable to communicate. In the first two weeks following the earthquake, Red Cross tracing teams offered over 2,000 phone calls to survivors in the largest camps in Port-au-Prince, so they could get in touch with relatives abroad. Over 3,000 people have posted a "safe and well" message on a special website (www.icrc.org/familylinks), while 22,000 persons are listed as unaccounted for.

From the onset of the disaster, ICRC staff already in Haiti distributed medical items to hospitals. The relief effort is gathering pace with the departure from Geneva of specialized staff to Port-au-Prince. A cargo plane carrying 40 tonnes of relief supplies left Switzerland Thursday evening. Due to the prevailing chaos in Haiti, access and security are the biggest challenges the humanitarian community is now facing.

Brice Osmer lost his arm in 2005 after being hit by a stray bullet near his home in Cité Soleil. Shortly thereafter, his wife was shot in the stomach and barely survived. Violence affects 98% of the population of this sprawling shanty town, one of the poorest in the Western hemisphere, hindering people's ability to work and thus put food on the table for their families.

Violence is on the rise again as gang members struggle for power in Cité Soleil, the sprawling slum in Port-au-Prince. Haitian Red Cross volunteers put their lives on the line as they evacuate the sick and wounded from communities caught in the crossfire such as Martissant, the setting of this film.

Building back better after the four consecutive killer storms that ravaged Haiti in 2008 is a major challenge that is being taken up by the Haitian Red Cross, among others. This film is set in the hurricane-ravaged city of Gonaives, where people are very concerned about what may lie in store for the 2009 hurricane season.

Red Cross volunteers in Haiti undertake particularly dangerous and stressful work as they evacuate the sick and wounded from the slums of Port-au-Prince, sometimes having to make life and death decisions over the telephone with gang leaders.

A long-term resident of Cite Soleil, the Haitian capital's sprawling seaside slum, 83-year-old Elvanise Tidor was first caught in gangland crossfire in 1993, before stepping into harms way again in 2004. Women in countries affected by violence face enormous risks and often show great resourcefulness in overcoming terrible circumstances.