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KOSOVO: ICRC AT THE READY: Following the recent outbreak of violence in Kosovo, in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the ICRC provided various health facilities in the region with medical assistance in the form of dressing sets.
SIERRA LEONE: ASSISTANCE IN FREETOWN: Shortly after the clashes in Freetown had ended on 14 February, relief workers from the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society reported that in the fighting and looting some 500 houses had been destroyed, leaving around 6,000 people homeless.
EARTHQUAKE IN AFGHANISTAN: From emergency to rehabilitation: Red Cross teams based in Rostaq have finished distributing emergency relief to the villages worst affected by the recent earthquake in Afghanistan's Takhar province.
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KOSOVO ICRC AT THE READY
Following the recent outbreak of violence in Kosovo, in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the ICRC provided various health facilities in the region with medical assistance in the form of dressing sets. The sub-delegation in Pristina is keeping in close contact with the Yugoslav authorities and the opposition, and stands ready to assist should new needs arise.
In addition, ICRC delegates are continuing to visit persons sentenced for endangering State security (some 100 since 1989).
Further information: Kim Gordon-Bates, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++41 22 730 2302 Thomas Merkelbach, ICRC Belgrade, tel. ++ 38111 761 063
SIERRA LEONE ASSISTANCE IN FREETOWN
Shortly after the clashes in Freetown had ended on 14 February, relief workers from the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society reported that in the fighting and looting some 500 houses had been destroyed, leaving around 6,000 people homeless. Last week, ICRC delegates and National Society volunteers started providing them with food, kitchen utensils, plastic sheeting, blankets and hygiene items.
The ICRC also resumed food distributions to various public institutions in the city, including hospitals, orphanages, children's feeding centres and old-age homes. At present, a total of 7,500 people in 65 different facilities are receiving such aid.
In addition, the ICRC is preparing to provide food for some 20,000 Sierra Leoneans displaced from the interior of the country and around 5,000 destitute Liberian refugees, all of them within the Freetown peninsula.
ICRC medical teams resumed their support for around a dozen clinics throughout the capital offering free health care and medicines to the inhabitants; medical supplies were also distributed to the city's maternity hospital, Wilberforce military hospital (which also treats civilians), and the clinic at Freetown's Central Prison.
Delegates are currently visiting more than 1,000 persons detained in connection with the recent clashes and held at Central Prison, registering new detainees and distributing material assistance, mainly hygiene articles.
Further information: Lise Boudreault, ICRC Freetown, tel. ++ 232 22 241 438
EARTHQUAKE IN AFGHANISTAN FROM EMERGENCY TO REHABILITATION
Red Cross teams based in Rostaq have finished distributing emergency relief to the villages worst affected by the recent earthquake in Afghanistan's Takhar province.
Using a combination of airdrops and transport by helicopter, trucks and donkey caravans, the Red Cross has delivered over 250 metric tonnes of tents, blankets and other essential supplies to survivors in the 14 villages initially assessed as having suffered the worst damage.
"Poor weather conditions and difficult terrain have made this one of the most complex logistical operations we have faced in years", said Eric Grand D'Hauteville, head of the ICRC office in Rostaq. "When the weather was good, we were able to deploy all the modern technology available; at other times, the only viable alternative was to use donkeys to carry the supplies."
The Red Cross, which has been working closely with the other agencies on the spot - notably the UN, in charge of food assistance, and Medecins sans Frontieres, which covers medical needs - now intends to scale down its operation. The focus will shift to strengthening the Afghan Red Crescent Society in the region and providing inhabitants with items such as farming tools to help them regain some degree of self-sufficiency.
Further information: Juan Martinez, ICRC Kabul, tel. ++873 761 242 260
New on the ICRC Public Server - http://www.icrc.org : - Update 98/04 on ICRC activities in Afghanistan, dated 3.03.98 - Update 98/02 on ICRC activities in Sierra Leone, dated 26.02.98
During the weekend of 7 - 8 March 1998, for all information please call the press officer on duty, Kim Gordon-Bates, on (mobile) 41 79 357 50 03