ICRC News 38 / 05-Oct-00
ICRC News 38 / 05-Oct-00
** SHORT MENU....
Afghanistan: Help for the displaced
Since fighting flared between Taliban forces and the Northern Alliance
around Taloqan in August, the ICRC has been providing non-food relief -
distributed by the Afghan Red Crescent Society, ACTED and Shelter Now
International - for over 11,000 displaced people in the area of Faizabad
and Taloqan.
Solomon Islands: Difficult relief operation under way
Last week, ICRC staff based in Honiara went to the aid of some 300 people
on the remote island of Sikaiana, in the most inaccessible part of the
Solomon Islands, where they distributed seed, gardening tools, fishing
gear, food and medicines.
Democratic Republic of the Congo: War surgery seminar
The ICRC and the Congolese Ministries of Defence and Health held a joint
war-surgery seminar in Kinshasa from 27 to 30 September. The event brought
together 65 doctors from all over the country (50 military officers and 15
civilians) to share their experience and discuss how best to improve the
treatment of war casualties.
Cote d'Ivoire: Red Cross aid to displaced persons
Since August, the ICRC and the Cote d'Ivoire Red Cross have been assisting
almost 1,200victims of ethnic violence which has once again flared up in
the south-west of the country.
Kenya: Slowly returning home
The Pokot and Marakwet people from the villages of Kolowa and Tot
(north-west of Nairobi) are slowly returning to their homes.
Additional emblem: Pan African Conference encourages initiative
The 5th Pan African Conference of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies,
held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, from 21 to 25 September 2000, gave
several presidents of African National Societies the opportunity to express
their views on the question of an additional emblem.
** STORIES IN FULL...
Afghanistan
Help for the displaced
Since fighting flared between Taliban forces and the Northern Alliance
around Taloqan in August, the ICRC has been providing non-food relief -
distributed by the Afghan Red Crescent Society, ACTED and Shelter Now
International - for over 11,000 displaced people in the area of Faizabad
and Taloqan.
The ICRC maintains a regular presence in Faizabad, but additional staff
from Kabul have been dispatched there over the recent weeks to assess and
respond to the need for humanitarian assistance in the area.
Further information: Mario Musa, ICRC Kabul, tel. ++ 873 382 280 131
Corinne Adam, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 41 22 730 22 24
Solomon Islands
Difficult relief operation under way
Last week, ICRC staff based in Honiara went to the aid of some 300 people
on the remote island of Sikaiana, in the most inaccessible part of the
Solomon Islands, where they distributed seed, gardening tools, fishing
gear, food and medicines. The inhabitants have no regular outside supplies
for most of the year and have seen their island's population grow
dramatically with the arrival of displaced people fleeing the fighting on
Guadalcanal. These items will enable the Sikaianans to plant additional
gardens and do more fishing.
There is no regular transport service between Sikaiana and the other
islands. The delegates reached it aboard the ICRC vessel "Princess 2" after
a 24-hour trip though heavy seas. The team included a doctor, who treated
25 patients - a significant percentage of the population - and was later
told that he was the first doctor to go there in many years. A woman
suffering complications as her pregnancy reached its term was taken to
Honiara hospital on the vessel's return voyage. Labour started as the ship
approached Honiara harbour and a baby girl, named Princess, was delivered
shortly afterwards.
Despite the extreme difficulty of landing on the beaches in high swells,
the delegates, working with staff and volunteers from the Solomon Islands
Red Cross Society, have been able to carry on relief operations in the
Marau Sounds and along the "Weather Coast" of Guadalcanal, where 3,000
displaced people have been registered. On several occasions, distributions
had to be temporarily halted after the ICRC's landing craft was swamped by
waves and conditions were judged too dangerous to continue.
Further information: Rene Suter, ICRC Honiara, tel. ++ 677 71 631
Corinne Adam, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 41 22 730 22 24
Democratic Republic of the Congo
War surgery seminar
The ICRC and the Congolese Ministries of Defence and Health held a joint
war-surgery seminar in Kinshasa from 27 to 30 September. The event brought
together 65 doctors from all over the country (50 military officers and 15
civilians) to share their experience and discuss how best to improve the
treatment of war casualties.
The deputy Minister of Defence opened the proceedings in the presence of
both the Minister of Health and the head of the ICRC's Kinshasa delegation.
Throughout 1999 the ICRC supported a dozen Ministry of Defence and Ministry
of Health medical facilities, helping to treat over 3,000 wounded people.
Over the same period, the orthopaedic centre run jointly by the ICRC and
the Red Cross Society of the Democratic Republic of the Congo fitted some
300 amputees - many of whom had lost limbs as a result of war - with
ICRC-produced artificial limbs.
Further information: Antoine Tawamba, ICRC Kinshasa, tel. ++243 12 34 191/2
Cote d'Ivoire
Red Cross aid to displaced persons
Since August, the ICRC and the Cote d'Ivoire Red Cross have been assisting
almost 1,200victims of ethnic violence which has once again flared up in
the south-west of the country.
Displaced persons have congregated in the two bus stations of San Pedro
(the region's main town), in Grand Bereby and in Queoulo, a village close
to the scene of the clashes.
The Red Cross aid consists mainly of rice, oil, toiletries and blankets.
The National Society has a team of five working in the area, which the ICRC
is providing with financial and logistical support as well as medical care.
Further information: Bernard Oberson, ICRC Abidjan, tel. ++225 20 22 24 60
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Kenya
Slowly returning home
The Pokot and Marakwet people from the villages of Kolowa and Tot
(north-west of Nairobi) are slowly returning to their homes. The trek down
from the Cherangani escarpment, where both clans had sought refuge since
fighting erupted between them in October 1999, began about two months ago
after meetings were held between community leaders and a Red Cross
operation was launched to supply villagers with food and drinking water.
"This is a conflict over access to resources", says Alfred Petters, an
engineer for the American Red Cross. "It is exacerbated by the drought
presently affecting large parts of Kenya, a country that hasn't received
adequate rains for the last two years". The drought has had a particularly
severe effect on pastoral communities such as the Pokot and the Marakwet,
who desperately need to find grazing pastures for their cattle to replace
the barren land they are sharing.
Clashes between the Marakwet and Pokot communities quickly grew more
violent when the fighters stopped using traditional weapons, such as spears
and arrows, in favour of modern automatic firearms. Several people,
including women and children, were killed and large numbers of people fled
their villages. In some cases they took their cattle with them, but the
animals proved unable to adapt to the new environment on the escarpment and
many died.
The ICRC project to help the victims, which is financed and implemented by
the American Red Cross, aims to bring about the conditions necessary for
these displaced people to return to their villages. The first step was to
distribute maize seed to those living on the escarpment. The maize, which
has now been harvested, is being consumed while a sorghum crop grows in the
abandoned villages in the valley. In order for the sorghum to grow and for
the population to have access to drinking water during the drought, several
water projects (hand-dug wells, desilting of dams, etc.) have been carried
out in the villagers' absence.
Schoolgrounds were used during the fighting as secure places for the cattle
to graze. However, this resulted in damage to the schools. Work has now
been carried out to repair and upgrade the facilities, including
installation of functional latrines and fences to keep the cattle out.
Several schools have also been equipped with rainwater catchment systems
and pupils are being served a meal a day. Of the 780 children in the
village of Tot, 300 have returned to school so far. And in Kolowa, the
market is gradually returning to its colourful, busy routine.
Restoring access to food and water has served to attenuate the causes of
conflict and enabled both communities to seek lasting solutions. They have
agreed to improve control over their youths and, in the event of new
tensions, meet before these have a chance to escalate.
Further information: Michael Kleiner, ICRC Nairobi, tel. ++254 2 728 387
Additional emblem
Pan African Conference encourages initiative
The 5th Pan African Conference of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies,
held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, from 21 to 25 September 2000, gave
several presidents of African National Societies the opportunity to express
their views on the question of an additional emblem.
During talks with Mr Jakob Kellenberger, ICRC President, Dr Abdel Kader
Boukhrouf, President of the Algerian Red Crescent, pledged his support for
efforts to achieve as wide a consensus as possible, saying he intended to
take the matter up personally with the Algerian President.
The National Societies of Togo and Niger called on the Conference to give
the process its full support. At the closing session, Ms Bana Maiga
Ouandaogo, President of the Burkina Be Red Cross Society, told the
participants that the Conference had served as a reminder of the need to
find a just and equitable solution to the emblem issue and encouraged the
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, which was truly
universal, to work toward such a solution.
Further information: Darcy Christen, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 41 22 730 47 50
During the weekend of 7 - 8 October 2000, for all information please call
the press officer on duty Juan Martinez, on (mobile) 41 79 217 32 17