ICRC News 49 / 12.10.97
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SOMALIA: FLOOD VICTIMS FACE RISK OF MALARIA: The ICRC has so far distributed aid to some 100,000 flood victims throughout southern Somalia, more than 40,000 of them in the Jilib/Marere area.
ETHIOPIA: LACK OF ROAD ACCESS CAUSES SERIOUS CONCERN: Intense efforts have been made by the authorities, the Italian government, the Ethiopian Red Cross Society and the ICRC to supply food, shelter and medicines by helicopter to thousands of displaced people in south-eastern Ethiopia.
RWANDA: SECONDARY SCHOOL EDUCATION FOR ORPHANS: After waiting quietly in line for their names to be called, the youngsters come forward to take a mattress and blanket each and receive an armful of school supplies.
IRAN/IRAQ: NEW HOPE FOR REPATRIATIONS: Two Iranian servicemen captured in 1991 were unilaterally released by the Republic of Iraq on 4 December.
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SOMALIA FLOOD VICTIMS FACE RISK OF MALARIA
The ICRC has so far distributed aid to some 100,000 flood victims throughout southern Somalia, more than 40,000 of them in the Jilib/Marere area. On the Marere dyke, where 4,000 people have been trapped by floodwaters for over a month, a sanitation team has just installed water purification and supply systems in three separate places to provide the population with drinking water and improve conditions of hygiene. An assessment of the sanitation facilities in the nearby town of Hargeisa, also hit by the flooding, shows that damaged and contaminated wells could be quickly cleaned and restored to working order. ICRC sanitation engineer Pascal Jansen, who recently came back from the area, reports that it is infested with mosquitoes and that malaria is one of the major problems affecting the stricken population. "People are asking for mosquito nets, antimalarial medication and soap."
The ICRC has now set up a mobile clinic on the Marere dike. On 10 December, an ICRC health worker will start a series of trips by motorboat to reach the many other stretches of dry land where people have taken refuge. The main purpose of this operation is to administer antimalarial treatment to the flood victims.
The assistance provided in the Jilib/Marere area forms part of a broader ICRC operation covering the whole of the flood-stricken region along the Juba and Shabelle rivers, which in recent years has been devastated by civil war.
Further information: Josue Anselmo, ICRC Nairobi, tel. ++ 2542 717 443
ETHIOPIA LACK OF ROAD ACCESS CAUSES SERIOUS CONCERN
Intense efforts have been made by the authorities, the Italian government, the Ethiopian Red Cross Society and the ICRC to supply food, shelter and medicines by helicopter to thousands of displaced people in south-eastern Ethiopia. However, in the wake of the recent flooding, the sheer impossibility of bringing assistance by road from the town of Gode to the villages along the Wabe Shebele river and in the Afder area continues to hamper the relief operation.
For the two weeks that they were available (up to 6 December), two Puma helicopters sent by Djibouti-based French forces made daily flights to distribute vital food, medicines and emergency equipment to six major settlements and hundreds of displaced persons from small villages.
This week, however, the coordinating task force in Gode has only a single helicopter for carrying out its work, though there is enough food, equipment and medicine to cover the immediate needs of between 50,000 and 100,000 people, as well as sufficient stocks of veterinary medicines for treating 400,000 head of livestock. Nevertheless, without usable roads, many of the isolated communities and groups of displaced people in the vast areas along the border with Somalia will remain without help.
Further information: Peter Iseli, ICRC Addis Ababa, tel. ++2511 518 366
RWANDA SECONDARY SCHOOL EDUCATION FOR ORPHANS
After waiting quietly in line for their names to be called, the youngsters come forward to take a mattress and blanket each and receive an armful of school supplies. Before carrying their new possessions back to the dormitory, they applaud and thank those in charge of the distribution.
These 69 young people, aged between 12 and 18, all lost their parents during the 1994 genocide and are now trying to rebuild their lives. With the assistance of the Association for the Support of Survivors of the Genocide, they and 121 other students are attending a secondary school in the commune of Kanzenze in central Rwanda.
They have teachers and staff to look after them, and the school is building classrooms and dormitories on the site of a former hospital. But their needs begin with the most basic items: school equipment and proper sleeping quarters. Some are three to a bed at present, and 55 students share one pit latrine enclosed with plastic sheeting.
At the request of the Association, the ICRC has given a school kit, a mattress and blanket, soap, a kitchen set, a jerrycan for water, and material for a school uniform to each of the youngsters. Each school kit consists of 22 notebooks, pens, pencils, erasers, a ruler and a geometry set. In addition, the ICRC pays the students' tuition fees, which amount to 25,000 Rwandan francs (80 US dollars) each per year.
The coordinator of the Association, Ndimbati Claver, explained that this help is important because of the devastation of 1994. "Those events caused not only the damage you can see, but also the wounds hidden inside," he says, looking at the adolescents. He underlined the importance of working with these young people. "As in any other country, our young people are the future and their education is of vital importance."
The ICRC is providing school kits and paying tuition fees for over 1,400 orphans throughout Rwanda, thus allowing them to continue their secondary education. "Part of our mandate is to aid recovery in the aftermath of conflict and to assist the vulnerable," explained Cherine Pollini, the ICRC delegate responsible for these projects in Rwanda. "Helping these orphans to rebuild their future by allowing them to complete their education is an integral part of the ICRC's role in Rwanda."
Further information: Bernard Barrett, ICRC Kigali, tel. ++ 250 72 783 Michael Kleiner, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 41 22 730 22 81
IRAN/IRAQ NEW HOPE FOR REPATRIATIONS
Two Iranian servicemen captured in 1991 were unilaterally released by the Republic of Iraq on 4 December. This gesture followed the unconditional release on 29 November of 496 Iraqi prisoners of war captured during the conflict between Iran and Iraq (1980-1988). All the above-mentioned persons were repatriated to their respective countries under the auspices of the ICRC. Delegates interviewed all the servicemen individually in private to make sure that they wished to be repatriated.
The ICRC hopes that these favourable developments will spur on the repatriation process, as thousands more prisoners are waiting to be released and reunited with their families.
Further information: Doris Pfister, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 41 22 730 23 17
During the weekend of 13 - 14 December 1997, for all information please call the press officer on duty, Michael Kleiner, on (mobile) 41 79 202 42 00