ICRC News 04 / 10-Feb-00
ICRC News 04 / 10-Feb-00
** SHORT MENU....
ICRC budget for year 2000 tops one billion Swiss francs:
On 8 February 2000 the ICRC launched three appeals completing its annual
Emergency Appeals issued in December 1999. These new appeals total
nearly70million Swiss francs (US$ 42.2 million; Euro 43.6 million), needed
to finance the organization's activities in East Asia (Jakarta regional
delegation), East Timor and the Russian Federation (Moscow regional
delegation) up to the end of the current year.
Democratic Republic of the Congo: A hospital in crisis
The Kinshasa General Hospital, more commonly known by its initials HGK, is
far from being a bush dispensary. With its 2,000 beds and its 2,250
employees (doctors, nurses and administrative personnel), it is one of
Africa's most impressive medical facilities.
Afghanistan: ICRC repatriates 10 passengers of hijacked plane:
On 7 February ICRC delegates brought back to Afghanistan 10 passengers of a
hijacked Ariana plane who had been freed in Uzbekistan the day before.
Cambodia: Travelling exhibition on Ottawa treaty:
No one knows exactly how many Cambodian men, women and children have been
killed or maimed by mines in recent decades. But for the survivors and
their families every incident is a personal tragedy which we must not
ignore.
Jordan: Incorporation of law of armed conflict in military training:
In accordance with a plan agreed upon late last year to incorporate the
basic principles of the law of armed conflict in military training
programmes, the Jordanian Armed Forces and the ICRC delegation in Amman
have held two more "train-the-trainers" courses.
** STORIES IN FULL...
ICRC budget for year 2000 tops
one billion Swiss francs
On 8 February 2000 the ICRC launched three appeals completing its annual
Emergency Appeals issued in December 1999. These new appeals total
nearly70million Swiss francs (US$ 42.2 million; Euro 43.6 million), needed
to finance the organization's activities in East Asia (Jakarta regional
delegation), East Timor and the Russian Federation (Moscow regional
delegation) up to the end of the current year. Last December the rapidly
changing situation in these three regions made any realistic forecast of
objectives and budgets for the coming year impossible.
This additional sum brings the ICRC's field budget for 2000 to Sfr 907.6
million (US$ 547.1 million; Euro 564.7 million). With the Sfr144.5 million
(US$ 87.1 million; Euro 89.9 million) required for the operational support
services provided by headquarters, the organization's overall budget has
topped the 1 billion franc (US$ 602.8 million; Euro 622.2 million) mark.
The ICRC's regional delegation in Jakarta needs Sfr 12 million (US$ 7.2
million; Euro7.5million) to encourage ratification of the humanitarian
treaties and promote respect for humanitarian principles, and to support
the National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Indonesia, Malaysia
and Brunei. In Aceh, Irian Jaya, Ambon, West Kalimantan and West Timor, it
works with the Indonesian Red Cross (Palang Merah Indonesia - PMI) to
protect and assist people affected by violence, especially detainees,
displaced people and dispersed families.
Some Sfr 17 million (US$ 10.2 million; Euro 10.6 million) are required for
East Timor, where the entire population has suffered the effects of the
recent upheaval. Here the ICRC is focusing its efforts on aiding people
living in remote areas, maintaining health services at Dili General
Hospital, providing temporary shelter for the most vulnerable among those
who have lost their homes, restoring and maintaining family links, and
protecting detainees and civilians who may be at risk within their
communities.
In the Russian Federation the ICRC needs over Sfr 41 million (US$ 24.7
million; Euro25.5million) to meet its objectives, which are twofold. On the
one hand it will continue its aid programmes for people affected by the
conflict in the northern Caucasus, and on the other it will pursue its
efforts to promote respect for humanitarian law through nationwide
dissemination programmes for the authorities, in the education system and
among the armed forces, a crucial aspect of its mandate.
With regard to the vast humanitarian needs created by the ongoing Chechen
crisis, the ICRC's main priority is to continue providing some 150,000
people in the region with basic necessities, in coordination with the
authorities and other humanitarian agencies. Other programmes, conducted
mainly in neighbouring Ingushetia, include assistance for medical
facilities treating the displaced and the wounded and water-supply and
sanitation projects. Together with the International Federation, the ICRC
will continue to support the Russian Red Cross Society and its local
branches in carrying out their programmes in aid of displaced Chechens.
Furthermore, the ICRC stands ready to extend its activities in the Chechen
republic once it has obtained the necessary security guarantees and
assurances that its working procedures are accepted by all concerned.
The field budgets for 2000 are considerably higher than those presented a
year ago. This can be explained by the fact that a number of budget
extensions were required to cope with the various crises that occurred
throughout 1999, a year which saw a record high in the number of conflicts
and other situations of violence around the world. In order to respond to
these crises the ICRC had to review its objectives 11 times, arriving at a
final budget of Sfr911.7 million (US$ 549.6 million; Euro 567.3 million) by
the end of the year. All indicators suggest that this level of violence
will persist in 2000 and that the situation may change even more abruptly
and unpredictably.
Further information: Corinne Adam, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2224 (East
Asia and East Timor)
Suzanne Berger, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2307 (Russian Federation)
Democratic Republic of the Congo
A hospital in crisis
The Kinshasa General Hospital, more commonly known by its initials HGK, is
far from being a bush dispensary. With its 2,000 beds and its 2,250
employees (doctors, nurses and administrative personnel), it is one of
Africa's most impressive medical facilities. It offers a full range of
services and is the undisputed referral centre for the Congolese capital.
Its patients - the sick, accident victims and war casualties, both
civilian and military - have one thing in common: their suffering, which
the staff do their best to alleviate with the means available. But those
means are often woefully inadequate.
For several years now the ICRC has been providing support for the hospital,
which in 1997 even admitted victims of the fighting between rival militias
that devastated Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo on
the other side of the river. The wounded were transferred to the HGK and
treated by Congolese surgeons using medicines and medical supplies provided
by the ICRC.
Today it is wounded soldiers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo who
are occupying the beds in the surgical unit. "We have 80 patients a month
on average", says Leandre, the nurse in charge of the unit. He took us into
a ward and showed us a few young patients, some in bed, some standing.
"Most of them have arm or leg wounds, none of them very serious", he
explained. The youths looked curiously at the group of foreigners led by
DrMichel Thomas, the doctor at the ICRC delegation in Kinshasa, wondering
what this unexpected visit might mean.
Outside the ward, the heat and pungent odours seemed even more stifling.
A short distance away from the other buildings is the cholera ward recently
refurbished by the ICRC. This is a sturdy, spacious structure with enough
room for 200 beds. It stands empty, waiting for furniture and equipment. A
bed base made of wooden slats with a hole in the centre serves as a
reminder of the ravages caused by this disease, which reappears every rainy
season. Outside in the grassy yard stands a line of latrines and showers.
With no one using them, they are not yet clogged and overflowing.
The HGK is like a vast ship that the crew are trying to keep afloat despite
daily difficulties and lack of resources. Leandre comes to work every day.
"I come in even on Sundays, because you never know when casualties will
arrive", he said with a big smile, as if his commitment were the most
natural thing in the world.
Further information: ICRC Kinshasa, tel. ++234 12 34 191
Afghanistan
ICRC repatriates 10 passengers of hijacked plane
1
On 7 February ICRC delegates brought back to Afghanistan 10 passengers of a
hijacked Ariana plane who had been freed in Uzbekistan the day before. The
hijackers who seized the Afghan jet then diverted it to London.
The passengers - five men, four women and a child - were met by the
delegates at the border between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan and were driven
to Mazar-i-Sharif, where they were handed over to the local authorities.
At the request of the Afghan ambassador in Moscow, the ICRC regional
delegation there arranged for a medical check-up to be given on 8 February
to four Afghan passengers who had been allowed to leave the plane in the
Russian capital.
Further information: Corinne Adam, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2224
Amanda Williamson, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2678
Cambodia
1Travelling exhibition on Ottawa treaty
No one knows exactly how many Cambodian men, women and children have been
killed or maimed by mines in recent decades. But for the survivors and
their families every incident is a personal tragedy which we must not
ignore.
During the month of February an exhibition showing the devastation caused
by landmines will travel to three towns in Cambodia. The exhibition, to be
mounted jointly by the ICRC and the Cambodian Red Cross Society in Kampong
Chhnang, Battambang and Phnom Penh, focuses on the main obligations laid
down by the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel mines, namely
assistance to victims, destruction of stockpiles and mine clearance.
To date, 133 States have signed the treaty and 90 of them have also
ratified it. Cambodia's ratification in 1999 reiterated the country's
pledge never to use, develop, produce, stockpile or transfer anti-personnel
mines, or to help anyone else to do so. The treaty also requires States
Parties to destroy all stockpiled anti-personnel mines within four years.
Last year, on the occasion of the Red Cross Marathon against Mines,
Cambodia organized two symbolic events in Battambang and Kampong Chhnang
during which stockpiles were destroyed.
Although the total number of deaths and injuries from mines and unexploded
ordnance in Cambodia has continued to decrease, 1,005 casualties were
reported in 1999. Provinces like Battambang, Banteay Meanchey, Oddar
Meanchey and Pailin seem to pay the heaviest toll.
The ICRC has been assisting Cambodian mine victims by setting up prosthetic
workshops and training local technicians in the production of artificial
limbs since 1979. Its physical rehabilitation programme in Battambang town
is only one of 11 similar projects it runs all over the world. Last year,
the ICRC fitted 703 new amputees and produced more than 1,500 artificial
limbs, most of them for mine victims. It also manufactured over 9,000
prosthetic components and over 5,000 pairs of crutches. Some 80% of the
items produced were distributed free of charge to five other organizations
operating in 15 physical rehabilitation centres throughout Cambodia.
Further information: Aleksandra Matijevic, ICRC Phnom Penh, tel. ++855 23
720 938 or ++855 12 804 795
Jordan
Incorporation of law of armed conflict in military training
In accordance with a plan agreed upon late last year to incorporate the
basic principles of the law of armed conflict in military training
programmes, the Jordanian Armed Forces and the ICRC delegation in Amman
have held two more "train-the-trainers" courses. The first took place from
16 to 27 January and was attended by 23 majors and captains, who will be
responsible for training in various units. The second, for 13 colonels and
lieutenant colonels, began on 31January and will continue until 9 February.
Apart from receiving regular instruction on the basis of the ICRC's
teaching file, the participants were asked to prepare presentations giving
examples of how they would proceed. These officers will be among the first
to take responsibility for preparing their colleagues for the integration
of this body of law in military training programmes in the near future. The
Cairo-based regional training delegate for the armed and security forces
and other resource persons from the ICRC delegation in Amman took part into
the two courses.
Further information: Mu'in Kassis, ICRC Amman, tel. ++962 6 5688645
1 During the weekend of 12 - 13 February 2000, for all information please
call the press officer on duty Suzanne Berger, on (mobile) 41 79 217 32 37