Fenan Adem, a 26-year-old social worker with CBM’s partner OSHO, distributes food in Dire Woreda, Borena Zone, amidst the devastating drought that has impacted many lives in this region of Ethiopia. Fenan ensures that essential donations of food and supplies reach those in urgent need.

World Humanitarian Day 2025: CBM calls for more support for aid workers in crisis regions

On World Humanitarian Day, Christian Blind Mission (CBM) celebrates the women and men who often help people in need under the most challenging conditions - even in forgotten crisis areas. One of these aid workers is Fenan Adem from Ethiopia. The social worker distributes food in her drought-stricken homeland. Without the commitment of dedicated aid workers like her, many people in the region would starve.

Fenan Adem, a 26-year-old social worker with CBM’s partner OSHO, distributes food in Dire Woreda, Borena Zone, amidst the devastating drought that has impacted many lives in this region of Ethiopia. Fenan ensures that essential donations of food and supplies reach those in urgent need.

The sun burns mercilessly from the sky as Fenan Adem distributes corn, beans and oil to the waiting crowd: food urgently needed in the barren south of Ethiopia. People are patiently queuing up here. Many have lost everything. The drought has dried up rivers and wells.

The fields have withered, and the livestock has been destroyed. Those who could have left, and those who stayed, are fighting for survival. The 26-year-old social worker knows the challenges all too well; she was born here herself.

“Persons with disabilities are hit particularly hard by this crisis,” she explains. If you are blind or have a walking disability, you can't manage the kilometre-long walk to the next watering hole on your own.

In times of need, these people are often forgotten, and their needs are hardly taken into account: “I wanted to be a voice for those who no one else hears,” says Fenan Adem about her motivation.

Aid cuts leave millions of people in uncertainty

People like Fenan Adem are the backbone of humanitarian aid: they are courageous, committed and irreplaceable

CBM board member Dr. Rainer Brockhaus

With her commitment, the emergency worker not only brings food, but also hope: She organises cash support for persons with disabilities, distributes dairy goats for malnourished children and their mothers. But the work of the emergency worker is on the brink.

Along with the USAID aid funding cut, Germany is also cutting funding for humanitarian aid - by a drastic 53 per cent in 2025 compared to the previous year.

A fatal signal, warns CBM board member Dr. Rainer Brockhaus: “These cuts are leaving millions of people in acute need in the lurch, they exacerbate humanitarian crises and endanger global stability in the long term.”

Fenan Adem knows what this means for her region: “This area is repeatedly hit by drought. We need sustainable solutions," warns the emergency worker. She herself is also plagued by fears about the future. Because her income not only secures her own existence, but also that of her entire family.

The backbone of humanitarian aid

Despite the difficult circumstances, Fenan Adem remains tirelessly in action. When she is not distributing food, she organises information events, strengthens communities, and gives hope.

“People like Fenan Adem are the backbone of humanitarian aid: they are courageous, committed and irreplaceable,” says Brockhaus. “Only through the commitment of these aid workers can CBM provide support where it is most urgently needed,” he emphasises.