ICRC News 42 / 02-Nov-00

** SHORT MENU....

Afghanistan: Red Cross/Red Crescent aid for drought victims 
The drought which has stricken Afghanistan continues to take its toll on
a population already struggling to survive the effects of years of war.

Sierra Leone: Fishing for the future 
Fishing is not just a job for Foday Baka - it is a way of life. The
60-year-old from Gbandi village in Sierra Leone's Pujehun District had
always made his living by catching fish in the Moa river.

Democratic Republic of the Congo: War surgery seminar continues
The practical section of the seminar on war surgery that was held in
Kinshasa at the end of September began on 23 October.

Sudan: Course on human rights and humanitarian law for Police instructors
>From 14 to 26 October, 22 Sudanese police instructors attended a course on
human rights law and international humanitarian law.



** STORIES IN FULL...

Afghanistan
Red Cross/Red Crescent aid for drought victims

The drought which has stricken Afghanistan continues to take its toll on a
population already struggling to survive the effects of years of war.

The impact of the drought has been felt most acutely in the south-western
part of the country, where poor rainfall for the last two years has
devastated crops and livestock, leaving the hundreds of thousands of
people who rely on these resources in an extremely precarious situation.

Recent assessments carried out by the Afghan Red Crescent Society, the
ICRC and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies found that nomadic communities have been the hardest hit, with
farmers who cultivate rain-fed land coming a close second. With no rain
expected until at least the end of the year, a humanitarian response is
crucial to provide a safety net for the most vulnerable communities.

Last week the ICRC began distributing emergency food aid and other
supplies in the central province of Ghor. Each of some 20,000 families in
Chaghcharan district will receive 60 kg of split peas and 54 kg of ghee
(oil) over the next three weeks. This, together with the wheat distributed
by the World Food Programme, will cover their food needs for six months.
Each family will also be given three blankets. The International
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has provided winter
clothing for about 7,200 families.

The Afghan Red Crescent, with the support of the International Federation,
is increasing the capacity of its branch in the district, using volunteers
trained in basic health care to help the stricken population through the
winter.

Further information: Magne Barth/Mohammed Qasem Hilaman, ICRC Kabul, tel.
00873 761 242 260


Sierra Leone
Fishing for the future 

Fishing is not just a job for Foday Baka - it is a way of life. The
60-year-old from Gbandi village in Sierra Leone's Pujehun District had
always made his living by catching fish in the Moa river. But then the war
broke out and, like so many other conflict victims, Foday found himself
far from home and unable to support his family. After languishing for
nearly six years in camps for the internally displaced, he finally
returned to his village only to find that most of it had been destroyed.
Now the ICRC's fishing kit programme has helped Foday, his wife and their
three sons to make a new start.

The ICRC not only aids war victims in emergency situations; it also helps
them to rebuild their lives in the long term. In Sierra Leone this is
being done mainly by distributing seeds for staple crops and tools to
farmers who have been displaced or have lost everything as a result of the
war. During the past six months some 36,000 families have received this
type of assistance. The ICRC has also provided vegetable seeds, tools and,
most important, training in their use for women's associations comprising
nearly 12,000 war widows and other vulnerable women in the Freetown area.

Foday and nearly 100 other families in Pujehun District have been given
fishing nets, hooks and other equipment. The fish they catch will be a
vital source of protein for their communities and will provide them with a
small income. And for Foday, being able to fish again means hope for a
brighter future because, as he put it, every time he saw a river during
his six years of exile he felt depressed and discouraged.

Further information: Florian Westphal, ICRC Freetown, 
tel. ++232 22/23 09 54


Democratic Republic of the Congo
War surgery seminar continues

The practical section of the seminar on war surgery that was held in
Kinshasa at the end of September began on 23 October. During this new
part, which is taking place at the military hospital in Kokolo camp in the
capital, doctors and nurses of the Congolese armed forces are trained in
the operating theatre by the ICRC doctor. The latter has already operated
on two wounded patients with the assistance of a team comprising a dozen
military medical personnel. Other patients will be treated in the coming
days under the ICRC's technical supervision.

For almost four years the ICRC has been providing the Ministries of
Defence and of Public Health in this conflict-torn country with support in
order to improve treatment for the war- wounded. The aid includes training
for military stretcher-bearers given by members of the National Red Cross
Society specialized in emergency assistance, and training given by the
ICRC for civilian and military medical personnel who operate on the
wounded. Assistance is also provided for all health facilities involved in
the evacuation of the wounded, and amputees receive physical
rehabilitation at the ICRC-supported prosthetic/orthotic centre in
Kinshasa.

Further information: Antoine Tawamba, ICRC Kinshasa, tel. ++243 12 34191


Sudan
Course on human rights and 
humanitarian law for police instructors

>From 14 to 26 October, 22 Sudanese police instructors attended a course
on human rights law and international humanitarian law. It was the first
such course organized by the ICRC in cooperation with the Sudan Unified
Police Forces, which intend to include these topics in their training
programmes.

The participants explored a wide range of issues relating to the
provisions of the two bodies of law that should be applied by the police
during their main duties, such as maintaining public order, making
arrests, protecting victims of armed conflict and assisting those in need.

This course is the first stage in a programme agreed upon with the
Ministry of Interior during consultations in May 2000 between senior
officers of the Sudan Unified Police Forces and the ICRC. Under the
programme the ICRC will offer expertise and train a number of police
instructors, who will then pass on the knowledge they have gained to
officers at the police academy and in training schools.

Further information: Loukas Petridis, ICRC Khartoum, tel.  ++249 11 476465


During the weekend of 4 - 5 November 2000, for all information please call
the press officer on duty Juan Martinez, on (mobile) 41 79 217 32 17