1994: Rwanda Red Cross volunteers monitoring and assisting displaced populations during the Rwandan Civil War

More than one million Rwandan people fled Rwanda after civil war broke out in 1994. That year the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) took responsibility for caring for 450,000 people at four refugee camps in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), for 300,000 people at four camps in Tanzania, for 200,000 people at eleven camps in Burundi, and 10,000 people at two camps in Uganda. The IFRC carried out these relief actions in collaboration with the local National Red Cross Societies.

Today, the IFRC is still present in Rwanda. Through its Disaster Emergency Relief Fund, it is supporting the Rwandan Red Cross Society.