ICRC News 43 / 29.10.97

ICRC News 43 / 29.10.97


** SHORT MENU....

Russian Federation: SAFE WATER SAVES LIVES: A pumping station has gone
into service to improve the water supply to the city of Khasavyurt, in
Daghestan.


SOMALIA: LIVESTOCK FOR THE DESTITUTE:  For the past year, the ICRC has
been supporting a scheme to raise sheep and goats in northern Somalia.
The project is managed by the Somali Red Crescent Society (SRCS), which
is considering extending the programme to other parts of the country in
view of good results in Berbera and Hargeisa.


ARGENTINA: A HUMANITARIAN TOUCH: Operation Cruz del Sur, the first joint
manoeuvres ever carried out by the armed forces of Brazil, Argentina and
Uruguay, took place from 12 to 15 October in southern Brazil, near the
border with its two neighbours.


** STORIES IN FULL...

RUSSIAN FEDERATION
SAFE WATER SAVES LIVES

A pumping station has gone into service to improve the water supply to
the city of Khasavyurt, in Daghestan. The station will provide some
12,000 cubic meters of drinking water daily to Khasavyurt's supply
network.

Following the influx of some 20,000 people displaced by the fighting in
Chechnya, the ICRC undertook a vast project in early 1996 to increase
the quantity and quality of the water available to the city's 85,000
inhabitants, who for years had suffered endemic cholera and sporadic
outbreaks of typhoid fever and dysentery, and now risked further
epidemics of water-borne disease. The ICRC began rebuilding the pumping
station, which had long been out of service, and repairing damaged
sections of the 22-km stretch of pipe that connected it to the city. A
holding tank was also repaired and a chlorination station equipped with
automatic chlorinators to disinfect the water before it is pumped into
the distribution network. A high-tension line and transformer were
installed to ensure an adequate electricity supply. The entire programme
cost 180,000 US dollars.

Further information: Suzanne Berger, ICRC Geneva, Tel. ++41 22 730 23 07
Victoria Catliff, ICRC Moscow, Tel. ++ 7095 220 26 16



SOMALIA
LIVESTOCK FOR THE DESTITUTE

For the past year, the ICRC has been supporting a scheme to raise sheep
and goats in northern Somalia. The project is managed by the Somali Red
Crescent Society (SRCS), which is considering extending the programme to
other parts of the country in view of good results in Berbera and
Hargeisa.

Somalia is a country where livestock plays an important role in people's
lives and represents a major sector of the economy. The ICRC is helping
the SRCS to build up a herd of sheep and a herd of goats to provide
animals to destitute nomadic families so that they can once again make a
living from traditional skills rather than being dependent on outside
aid.

"The animals came through the last severe drought with minimal losses",
says Trishit Biswas, an ICRC delegate. "Everybody put a lot of effort
into keeping the animals alive and healthy, so it comes as no surprise
that there's such enthusiasm about the programme".

Impressed by the scheme's achievements in the north, the Red Crescent
branches in Mogadishu and Kismayo, further south, have expressed
interest in launching similar projects. Delegates expect the ICRC to
further develop this project wherever possible throughout Somalia.

Further information: Josue Anselmo, ICRC Nairobi, Tel. ++ 2542 716339


ARGENTINA
A HUMANITARIAN TOUCH

Operation Cruz del Sur, the first joint manoeuvres ever carried out by
the armed forces of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, took place from 12 to
15 October in southern Brazil, near the border with its two neighbours.
The purpose of the exercise was to prepare for peace-keeping operations,
a process that began with international military exercises carried out
in Rio de Janeiro last August under the auspices of the US military's
Southern Command.

The ICRC was the only civilian organization invited to participate in
Cruz del Sur. The regional delegate based in Buenos Aires and the
Bogota-based delegate responsible for promoting knowledge of and respect
for international humanitarian law in the armed forces of Latin America
both took part, organizing an exchange of prisoners and helping the
forces involved in the exercise to identify the rules of that law
applicable to the peace-keeping context.

Further information: Ruben Ortega, ICRC Geneva, Tel. ++ 4122 730 24 54


During the weekend of  1 - 2 November 1997, for all information please
call the press officer on duty, Kim Gordon-Bates,
on (mobile) 41 79 357 50 03


New on the ICRC Public Server - http://www.icrc.org :
- Update No. 97/03 on ICRC activities in the Republic of Congo, dated 
28.10.97