ICRC News 10 / 23-Mar-00
ICRC News 10 / 23-Mar-00
** SHORT MENU....
Republic of the Congo: Displaced persons return to their villages from
Brazzaville:
On 19 March, a trainload of 2,300 displaced persons returned to their
villages some 50 km from Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of the Congo.
They were members of the rural population of the Pool district who had
taken refuge in Brazzaville in late 1999 when fighting broke out around
their homes.
Georgia: ICRC-trained prosthetic technicians graduate:
On 9 March the ICRC and representatives of the Georgian Ministry of Health
and Social Affairs awarded international certificates of professional
competence to eight Georgian prosthetic/orthotic technicians.
Angola: Course in international humanitarian law for police instructors:
Twenty instructors from the Angolan police academies were awarded
certificates on 20 March for taking part in a course on human rights and
international humanitarian law. This was the first such course organized by
the ICRC in conjunction with the human resources department of the Angolan
national police, which intends to include these topics in its training
programme beginning this year.
** STORIES IN FULL...
Republic of the Congo
Displaced persons return to their villages from Brazzaville
On 19 March, a trainload of 2,300 displaced persons returned to their
villages some 50 km from Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of the Congo.
They were members of the rural population of the Pool district who had
taken refuge in Brazzaville in late 1999 when fighting broke out around
their homes.
The ICRC has arranged the return of more than 3,000 people since the
beginning of the year, and provided them with food and other relief
supplies. Lack of maintenance has left a number of roads in very poor
condition and access to certain villages from Brazzaville is possible only
by rail. The ICRC therefore asked the Ministry of Transport to make trains
available free of charge to displaced persons who came from villages near
the railway line.
This first journey by train, with ICRC delegates and first-aid workers from
the Congolese Red Cross on board, lasted two and a half hours. There was
jubilation among the returnees, who sang throughout the trip. A second
train, scheduled for 26 March, is to take 1,800 displaced persons as far as
Mindouli, 140 km from Brazzaville. This will enable two camps run by the
ICRC to be closed, with only one - housing some 400 people - remaining in
the capital.
Further information: Laurent Colassis, ICRC Brazzaville, tel. ++242 81 12
08
Juan Martinez, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++41 22 730 22 81, or mobile ++41 79 217
32 17
Georgia
ICRC-trained prosthetic technicians graduate
On 9 March the ICRC and representatives of the Georgian Ministry of Health
and Social Affairs awarded international certificates of professional
competence to eight Georgian prosthetic/orthotic technicians.
Their training course began in February 1998 and culminated on 25 February
2000 with an examination leading to the certificate of proficiency in
lower-limb prosthetics and orthotic devices. Francois Bellon, head of the
ICRC delegation in Tbilisi, explained: "The best students will continue
their training for another year to obtain the final ISPO [International
Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics] diploma. The idea is to have the
programme entirely run and staffed by the Ministry of Health and Social
Affairs by 2002".
In partnership with the Ministry, the ICRC has been conducting a physical
rehabilitation project for the war-disabled in Georgia since November 1994.
To date the project, located in the Tbilisi Institute of Orthopaedics and
Traumatology, has registered 2,157 patients and assisted 1,582 disabled
people, fitting 1,931 prostheses and 454 orthotic appliances and supplying
1,060 pairs of crutches and 118 wheelchairs. A similar project is being run
in Gagra (Abkhazia) for people disabled as a result of the hostilities and
also for diabetic patients who have had limbs amputated.
Further information: Suzanne Berger, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 4122 730 2307
Angola
Course in international humanitarian law for police instructors
Twenty instructors from the Angolan police academies were awarded
certificates on 20 March for taking part in a course on human rights and
international humanitarian law. This was the first such course organized by
the ICRC in conjunction with the human resources department of the Angolan
national police, which intends to include these topics in its training
programme beginning this year.
The two-week course allowed the participants to explore the legal and
humanitarian aspects of their main duties as police officers, such as
maintaining public order, making arrests and using firearms. Other topics
included the protection of victims of armed conflicts and the treatment of
particularly vulnerable persons.
The course, which was organized with the assistance of a
Portuguese-speaking expert from the ICRC's Brasilia delegation, marks a
step forward in cooperation between the Angolan police and the ICRC. This
collaboration began in 1999 when awareness-raising days were organized in
nine provincial commands. The training of instructors will continue, at the
request of the Angolan authorities, so as to enable them to promote
knowledge of international humanitarian law within the police force.
Further information: Francoise Zambellini, ICRC Luanda,
tel. ++24 42 364 454
Juan Martinez, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++41 22 730 22 81, or
mobile ++41 79 217 32 17
During the weekend of 25 - 26 March 2000, for all information please call
the press officer on duty Juan Martinez, on (mobile) 41 79 217 32 17
distributed by
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Volunteers in Technical Assistance
Disaster Information Center lists: www.vita.org/listsub.htm
sitreps nat-dsr
web: www.vita.org fireline
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
comments/suggestions/requests to incident@vita.org