ICRC News 38 / 27-Sep-01


** SHORT MENU....

Ethiopia
Help for over 2,000 war-disabled
For the past 12 months, the ICRC has helped provide more than 2,000
war-disabled with artificial limbs and orthotic devices through a unique
project called Patient Support Services (PSS) in which the organization
pays the cost of services such as production and fitting of prostheses and
physical rehabilitation for war-disabled people.

Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Alerting people to lurking death
The ICRC is launching a programme to make Macedonians aware of the danger
of unexploded ordnance (UXO) which, according to a recent assessment,
poses a significant threat to civilians living in, or planning to return
to, villages directly affected by recent fighting between Macedonian
security forces and the National Liberation Army.

Bosnia-Herzegovina
Promoting respect for humanitarian law
On 20 September a book launch was held in Sarajevo to mark the publication
in Bosnia-Herzegovina's three national languages of "Respect for
International Humanitarian Law", a handbook for parliamentarians produced
jointly by the ICRC and the Swiss-based Inter-Parliamentary Union.


** STORIES IN FULL...

Ethiopia
Help for over 2,000 war-disabled

For the past 12 months, the ICRC has helped provide more than 2,000
war-disabled with artificial limbs and orthotic devices through a unique
project called Patient Support Services (PSS) in which the organization
pays the cost of services such as production and fitting of prostheses and
physical rehabilitation for war-disabled people. The average cost of an
artificial limb produced in Ethiopia is 850 birrs (100 US dollars).

The PSS project aims to foster sustainability for existing limb-fitting
centres and promote on their part responsibility in meeting their own
costs. This is to be done by means of a cost-recovery system and
generation of income from services to war victims. ICRC specialists
regularly visit the centres and give technical advice to the staff. The
quality of artificial limbs produced locally has been improved by
importing modern materials from Switzerland. The ICRC donates a range of
such materials to the workshops in Addis Ababa, Mekele, Dessie and Harar.

The organization has also launched a scheme to provide access to the
centres for people in need of artificial limbs, in which it pays for
transport and room and board during their stay there. After her left leg
was badly burned in a bombing four years ago, the only way for 20-year-old
Zineth to move around was with a wooden crutch. "People looked at me as if
I were no longer human", she says, echoing many other victims. "Now I have
a stable and comfortable ortho-prosthesis. I don't need a crutch anymore
and I can go back to school without being ashamed of myself."

The ICRC encourages other international agencies and Ethiopian businesses
to participate in this project in order to ensure the same level of
services over the long term. So far, the ICRC has invested some 530,000
dollars in the project.

Further information: Didier Revol, ICRC Addis Ababa, tel. ++ 2511 518 366


Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Alerting people to lurking death

The ICRC is launching a programme to make Macedonians aware of the danger
of unexploded ordnance (UXO) which, according to a recent assessment,
poses a significant threat to civilians living in, or planning to return
to, villages directly affected by recent fighting between Macedonian
security forces and the National Liberation Army.

According to the assessment, carried out by the ICRC's regional
UXO/mine-awareness coordinator, the problem is not widespread but
concentrated instead in areas where the heaviest fighting took place and
where large amounts of ordnance remain. While no evidence has yet emerged
that anti-personnel mines have been laid in the country, this cannot be
entirely ruled out.

The ICRC therefore decided to raise awareness among both those who stayed
and those who fled. Staff began by going to talk to civilians from
Aracinovo. The programme is supplemented by a leaflet/poster campaign
aimed at various age groups but especially young children, who are often
most at risk because of their natural curiosity.

Drawing on expertise gained from nearly ten years of work in the Balkans,
the ICRC called on UXO/mine-awareness officers from ICRC Croatia, Bosnia
and Kosovo to train staff of both the ICRC and Macedonian Red Cross in a
community-based approach. Volunteers from the Macedonian Red Cross will
play an important role in distributing leaflets among the displaced
population and in helping with the awareness sessions themselves.
Meanwhile, ICRC and local Red Cross staff in Kosovo have also begun to
distribute leaflets to the refugee population there.

Annick Bouvier, the programme's coordinator, says that though the problem
is restricted to small pockets of the country where the heaviest fighting
took place, it nevertheless poses a significant threat, especially to
people planning to return to their abandoned homes. "We felt it was
important to act as soon as possible to alert people. These devices can
cause injury and death long after a conflict has ended."

Further information: Amanda Williamson, ICRC Skopje,
tel. ++ 389 02 371 951


Bosnia-Herzegovina
Promoting respect for humanitarian law

On 20 September a book launch was held in Sarajevo to mark the publication
in Bosnia-Herzegovina's three national languages of "Respect for
International Humanitarian Law", a handbook for parliamentarians produced
jointly by the ICRC and the Swiss-based Inter-Parliamentary Union.

The book, which was issued in 1999 for the 50th anniversary of the 1949
Geneva Conventions, looks at the ways in which parliaments and
parliamentarians can ensure that humanitarian law treaties are
incorporated into national legislation and that the rules of war are
respected in times of internal and international unrest.

Mr Sead Avdic, deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, which
hosted the event together with the ICRC, emphasized the important role of
parliamentarians regarding the application and promotion of humanitarian
law.

The book launch took place in a Sarajevo gallery famous as a meeting place
for Bosnia's academics and intellectuals. It was attended by
representatives of the State and Entity authorities, members of the
Standing Committee on Military Matters, the legal adviser to the
Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency, a number of well-known intellectuals,
officials from the national Red Cross Society and members of the
international community.

"Parliamentarians play a key role in the process through which States
enact national legislation", said Balthasar Staehelin, ICRC head of
delegation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, in his welcoming address. "I trust that
this handbook will prove a useful tool."

The Council of Ministers has just adopted the draft laws regulating the
status of the fledgling Red Cross Society of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the
use of the red cross emblem, clearing the way for their passage through
parliament.

Further information: Jessica Barry, ICRC Sarajevo, tel.: ++ 387 33 652 407


During the weekend of 29 - 30 Srptember 2001, for all information
please call the press officer on duty Macarena Aguilar,
on (mobile) 41 79 217 32 64