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SOMALIA: ICRC RESPONDS TO CHOLERA EMERGENCY IN MOGADISHU: Following the outbreak of cholera in the Somali capital Mogadishu last December, and with no other international organizations on the spot owing to the unstable security situation, the ICRC has launched an emergency operation in the city to assist victims of the disease.
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: ICRC COLLECTS AWARD: The ICRC has received the Golden Rose of Peace Award for its humanitarian work in Bosnia and Herzegovina during 1997.
Switzerland: GENEVA TO HOST MEETING OF LEGAL EXPERTS: From 19 to 23 January, Geneva will host an intergovernmental meeting of experts to examine general problems that affect the implementation of international humanitarian law.
The ICRC condemns and deplores two serious security incidents which took place within the space of three days.
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SOMALIA ICRC RESPONDS TO CHOLERA EMERGENCY IN MOGADISHU
Following the outbreak of cholera in the Somali capital Mogadishu last December, and with no other international organizations on the spot owing to the unstable security situation, the ICRC has launched an emergency operation in the city to assist victims of the disease.
In south Mogadishu, oral rehydration salts (ORS), intravenous fluids and plastic sheeting were provided to patients at the Medina and Bermuda rehydration centres. This was followed by distributions of 1,200 litres of intravenous fluids, over 7,000 sachets of ORS, plus antibiotics, to Mogadishu's Benadir hospital. Between 27 December and 11 January, the Benadir hospital cholera centre recorded 1,250 admissions and 63 deaths. To date, the hospital has been registering over 120 admissions every day.
Further north in Afgoi, the ICRC, working in close cooperation with the Somali Red Crescent Society and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, opened a rehydration centre on 3 January. The ICRC rehabilitated the well supplying the centre's water, set up a hand pump, constructed latrines and a shower, and has been providing ORS, intravenous fluids and antibiotics. The centre will now be supported and monitored by the Federation.
Following a survey carried out by an ICRC health delegate, plans are being made to open another rehydration centre as soon as possible in Balad, in north-east Mogadishu, where 120 cases of severe diarrhoea and 36 deaths have been reported since 10 December.
The ICRC is closely monitoring the situation on the ground and is ready to intervene should new needs arise.
Further information: Josue Anselmo, ICRC Nairobi, tel. ++ 2542 717 443
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA ICRC COLLECTS AWARD
The ICRC has received the Golden Rose of Peace Award for its humanitarian work in Bosnia and Herzegovina during 1997.
Last Saturday in Sarajevo around 10,000 people, including the President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the mayor of the city and various prominent people from diplomatic, political and social circles, attended the ceremony at which the ICRC collected the award, which is voted for by radio and television audiences.
In his acceptance speech, the head of the ICRC delegation in Sarajevo, Peter Stocker, stressed that the honour reflected the work of all the components of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement working in the country.
He also spoke about the ICRC's involvement in dealing with the lasting legacies of the conflict - namely, the deadly threat of landmines, and the vitally important task of alleviating the anguish of thousands of families waiting for news of relatives who were still unaccounted for.
Further information: Jon-Hans Coetzer, ICRC Sarajevo, tel. ++ 387 71 652407 Amanda Williamson, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 41 22 730 2678
Switzerland GENEVA TO HOST MEETING OF LEGAL EXPERTS
>From 19 to 23 January, Geneva will host an intergovernmental meeting of experts to examine general problems that affect the implementation of international humanitarian law. The meeting will focus in particular on the increasing vulnerability of aid workers in a number of places where there is not only the risk of murder and armed banditry but also the growing threat of hostages being taken from among humanitarian organizations themselves.
Furthermore, the meeting, the first in an ongoing series, will discuss the applicability of the four Geneva Conventions and their two Additional Protocols in the light of contemporary patterns of conflict, in which State authority - a cornerstone of international law - is often weakened if not completely absent.
The idea of periodic meetings on international humanitarian law, to be convened by the Swiss government, stems from the 1993 International Conference for the Protection of War Victims, also held in Geneva. The concept was endorsed by the 26th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in December 1995. Attending them will be legal experts and official representatives of all signatory States, plus a number of observer delegations.
Further information: Kim Gordon-Bates, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 41 22 730 2302
The ICRC condemns and deplores two serious security incidents which took place within the space of three days. In Sri Lanka, Mr Gnapiragasam Thimoty Raveenthiran was killed during the night of 9 January while he was guarding the ICRC sub-delegation premises in Vavuniya. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mr Sylvain Mutombo, a driver employed by the ICRC delegation in Kinshasa, was murdered on 12 January while carrying out his duties. Both men were married and had children.
Although the two incidents took place in different parts of the world, they were both the work of armed criminal elements, and demonstrate the growing insecurity of certain spheres in which humanitarian staff are operating. The matter is a source of ever-growing concern to the ICRC, which has responded by tightening the already stringent measures it had taken to ensure the safety of its staff in high-risk areas. Such incidents also demonstrate the need for all those involved in any way in humanitarian assistance operations to intensify and conclude the existing debate on security as quickly as possible.
Further information: Philippe Lazzarini, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++41 22 730 2190
During the weekend of 17 - 18 January 1998, for all information please call the press officer on duty, Ruben Ortega, on (mobile) 41 79 217 3203