ICRC News 17 / 11-May-00
ICRC News 17 / 11-May-00
** SHORT MENU....
Sudan: High number of war-wounded
Renewed fighting in various parts of southern Sudan has meant a heavy
influx of wounded people at the ICRC's surgical hospital in Lokichokio,
northern Kenya. By 2 May the hospital, whose normal capacity is 560, had
646 patients.
Russian Federation / Northern Caucasus: ICRC conducts three surveys in
Grozny
During the second half of April a team of four local ICRC staff conducted
three consecutive surveys in Grozny to assess the scale of needs for both
medical care and water and sanitation. Another mission is currently under
way.
Algeria: Second series of visits to detainees completed
Following an agreement with the Algerian government in 1999 to enable the
ICRC to visit detainees, delegates carried out a second round of visits
between 20 March and 6 May.
Cambodia: Hundreds of additional amputees helped
In January 2000, delegates assessed the situation of amputees around Anlong
Veng, in northern Cambodia near the Thai border, an area that was long
under Khmer Rouge control. They identified 321 people in need of artificial
limbs.
Yugoslavia / Kosovo: Mines and unexploded bombs: songs and laughter to put
safety first
The timeless tale of Little Red Riding Hood, which has been used to warn
generations of children that things are not always what they seem, has
provided mine-awareness instructors in Kosovo with the perfect vehicle to
warn against the silent menace of landmines.
** STORIES IN FULL...
Sudan
High number of war-wounded
Renewed fighting in various parts of southern Sudan has meant a heavy
influx of wounded people at the ICRC's surgical hospital in Lokichokio,
northern Kenya. By 2 May the hospital, whose normal capacity is 560, had
646 patients.
"This is the largest number of people we have ever had to care for in
Lokichokio", said Pierre Gratzl, the organization's health and relief
coordinator for Sudan. The hospital's two surgical teams were performing
some 20 operations a day, he said, and they had carried out a total of 381
in April alone, a period in which 312 new patients were admitted. This
compares with an average of less than 240.
In addition to the services provided by the Lokichokio hospital, the ICRC
has recently set up a mobile surgical team. A surgeon, anaesthetist and
surgical nurse are assisting hospitals in southern Sudan on both sides by
training staff in war surgery. The team has so far worked in Wau, Billing
and Marial Low, and further destinations are planned. Two other ICRC
surgical teams are also continuing their work at Juba Teaching Hospital.
Further information: Loukas Petridis, ICRC Khartoum, tel. ++249 11 476 464
Russian Federation / Northern Caucasus
ICRC conducts three surveys in Grozny
During the second half of April a team of four local ICRC staff conducted
three consecutive surveys in Grozny to assess the scale of needs for both
medical care and water and sanitation. Another mission is currently under
way.
The situation for the population of Grozny appears to be very difficult
owing to insufficient food and medical supplies. A considerable number of
former inhabitants, especially women, who left Grozny during the fighting
are nevertheless making short trips to the city to find out more about
living conditions there. The severe shortage of drinking water due to the
destruction of vital facilities seems to be the most serious problem. With
the approaching summer and rise in temperatures, epidemics are feared.
Pumping Station 1, which until last October was maintained with the support
of the ICRC and supplied 20,000 inhabitants with clean water, is today
practically inoperable since the system connecting it to the city's
water-distribution network has been destroyed.
In the medical sphere, the ICRC team visited seven hospitals that have just
recently started functioning again though with great difficulty owing to
the lack of essential medicines and the absence of running water and
electricity. The ICRC furnished them with basic supplies.
Meanwhile, on 1 May the ICRC bread programme resumed production and daily
distribution to some 3,500 particularly vulnerable people in the main
Chechen towns after a six-month suspension due to the fighting.
In addition, the home-visiting nurses programme, run by the local branch of
the Russian Red Cross with ICRC support, has also started again with some
48 nurses caring for elderly, handicapped and other isolated people, most
of whom are facing immense hardship.
Further information, Suzanne Berger, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 41 22 730 23 07
Algeria
Second series of visits to detainees completed
Following an agreement with the Algerian government in 1999 to enable the
ICRC to visit detainees, delegates carried out a second round of visits
between 20 March and 6 May. They went to places of detention run by the
Ministry of Justice in Batna, Chlef, Tiaret, Blida and Medea for the first
time, while Ministry-run prisons in Algiers, Annaba and Oran were visited
for the second time.
The team consisted of five delegates including a doctor. They were given
full access to all premises and all detainees they chose to visit. They
went to 10 places of detention in all - holding a total of 10,900 persons -
and conducted private interviews with 306 detainees.
The delegates' findings regarding the conditions of detention and the
problems raised by the detainees were discussed with the detaining
authorities. The ICRC will submit a report to the Algerian government in
due course and the dates for the next round of visits will be set by mutual
agreement.
Since the ICRC's detention activities started in Algeria late last year, it
has visited a total of 17 places of detention, holding 763 private
interviews with detainees.
Further information: Suzanne Berger, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 41 22 730 23 07
Cambodia
Hundreds of additional amputees helped
In January 2000, delegates assessed the situation of amputees around Anlong
Veng, in northern Cambodia near the Thai border, an area that was long
under Khmer Rouge control. They identified 321 people in need of artificial
limbs. The ICRC arranged for them to be taken to its prosthetic/orthotic
centre in Battambang to be fitted with artificial limbs and receive
rehabilitation therapy. Most have by now made the trip, in 10 separate
groups.
The amputees are accompanied on their journey by expatriate and Khmer
staff. Because of poor road conditions, the 300-km trip between Anlong Veng
and Battambang takes two days. The amputees spend the night en route in a
house rented by the ICRC in the village of Puork, between Sisophon and Siem
Reap. Special safety rules have been adopted for these trips in view of the
danger posed by mines.
The programme's success has encouraged hitherto unregistered amputees to
approach the authorities in their area. As a result, arrangements for
transport and limb-fitting will now be made for some 100 further amputees.
While this programme has been going on, the Battambang centre has continued
working for its several hundred regular patients.
Further information: Corinne Adam, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++41 22 730 22 24
Yugoslavia / Kosovo
Mines and unexploded bombs:
songs and laughter to put safety first
The timeless tale of Little Red Riding Hood, which has been used to warn
generations of children that things are not always what they seem, has
provided mine-awareness instructors in Kosovo with the perfect vehicle to
warn against the silent menace of landmines.
A professional theatre company, specially commissioned by the ICRC, is
currently touring primary schools in Kosovo with a cleverly-devised
performance of the famous fable as a means of conveying a serious message
to its young audience: in the fields and forests - irresistible playgrounds
for naturally curious children - lurks the deadly danger of landmines and
unexploded bombs.
Since refugees started returning to Kosovo last summer, almost 160 children
have been killed or maimed by this silent menace, and as the spring days
lengthen and people work and play more outside, the danger is mounting once
again. This is especially so among children, whose attention is naturally
attracted by the shiny, seemingly innocent objects lying in the ground and
waiting to pounce on their victims.
The troupe's open-air performance, aimed at schoolchildren in the
seven-to-14-year age group considered the most at risk, is the latest
project in the ICRC's mine-awareness programme, an operation that has been
under way in Kosovo for the past 10 months and has so far reached people in
over 400 villages.
The ICRC is also chiefly responsible for gathering data on incidents. This
information is passed on to the United Nations in order to make precise
maps showing where the danger is greatest. And while the Red Cross is not
involved in mine-clearing itself, it has made arrangements with a Swiss
organization, which has three teams available in Kosovo, to conduct
emergency clearance in urgent cases.
ICRC mine-awareness coordinator Johan Sohlberg points out that there is no
easy solution regarding mines and unexploded ordnance. "This is a problem
that the people here will have to live with for a long time", he says.
"What we are trying to do is instil a safety reflex in the residents so
that they can learn to live as normally as possible in the danger zone."
Further information: Nic Sommer, ICRC Pristina, tel. ++ 381 38 501
517/8/9/20
During the weekend of 13 - 14 May 2000, for all information please call the
press officer on duty Chris Bowers, on (mobile) 41 79 217 32 31