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SUDAN: EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE IN BAHR AL GHAZAL PROVINCE: In Wau, where the situation is extremely alarming, the ICRC is supporting the Sudanese Red Crescent's supplementary feeding centre.
NIGERIA: RED CROSS VOLUNTEERS HELP RIOT VICTIMS: Only a few hours after violent riots erupted in the major urban areas of south-western Nigeria following the death of opposition leader Chief Moshood Abiola on 7 July, the Lagos, Abeokuta and Ibadan branches of the Nigerian Red Cross Society mobilized over 350volunteers to help deal with the crisis.
TAJIKISTAN: FROM FOOD DISTRIBUTION TO FOOD PRODUCTION: A new ICRC assistance programme designed to help the Tajik prison administration start producing food for detainees is about to yield its first crops..
IRU/ICRC PHOTO COMPETITION The International Road Transport Union (IRU), which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, awarded its 1998 Grand Prix d'Honneur to the ICRC in recognition of the professionalism and commitment of its drivers
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SUDAN EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE IN BAHR AL GHAZAL PROVINCE
In Wau, where the situation is extremely alarming, the ICRC is supporting the Sudanese Red Crescent's supplementary feeding centre. More than 700 children are registered at the centre, where they are receiving intensive food assistance on a daily basis. Between 50 and 80 new children arrive there each day.
Since 13 July, the centre has been giving cooked meals to the parents and elder siblings who accompany the children to the centre and who are also in desperate need of food. In most cases the children are brought to the centre by young family members since their parents are busy queuing up for food at distribution points.
Some 47,000 newcomers have been registered by the local authorities in Wau since May, most of them too weak to continue foraging for something to eat in their villages. The daily influx is between 1,000 and 2,000 people. More than two thirds of them come from the surrounding countryside, where there is no food and the fighting and delayed rains make it impossible to cultivate the land. The other third are people who fled the town during a battle that took place there last January and are now returning to their homes.
The situation is worsening day by day, with the newcomers stretching the already scarce shelter and sanitation resources. The ICRC will send a nutritionist and a water and sanitation engineer to Wau by the end of the week to lend a hand.
This week, together with Save the Children Fund, the ICRC and the Sudanese Red Crescent plan to distribute essential non-food relief items (cooking utensils, blankets, water containers, mosquito nets, soap and kangas - fabric for clothing) to some 5,000 households. In anticipation of new arrivals, the ICRC is currently building up enough stocks of these items to meet the needs of another 5,000 households.
In the Malwal Kon region, where conditions are precarious, planting is still possible owing to the delay in the rains. Between 8 and 10 July, the ICRC took advantage of the situation to distribute 24 tonnes of sorghum seed to 16,750 households in five payams (communities) and a further four tonnes of seed to 3,600 households of internally displaced persons gathered in four locations where they have access to patches of cultivable land. In all, around 100,000people should thus be able to harvest their own food in a few months' time.
Further information: Pierre Ryter, ICRC Khartoum, tel. ++249 11 476 464 Michael Kleiner, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 22 81
NIGERIA RED CROSS VOLUNTEERS HELP RIOT VICTIMS
Only a few hours after violent riots erupted in the major urban areas of south-western Nigeria following the death of opposition leader Chief Moshood Abiola on 7 July, the Lagos, Abeokuta and Ibadan branches of the Nigerian Red Cross Society mobilized over 350volunteers to help deal with the crisis.
In the Lagos metropolitan area, over 150 volunteers manned some 40 first-aid posts. The ICRC regional delegation provided additional vehicles, fuel, telecommunications equipment and first-aid material for the National Society, which placed senior staff and three vehicles at the disposal of its branch offices.
Between 8 and 11 July Nigerian Red Cross teams assisted over 700 riot victims (225 in Lagos, 423 in Abeokuta and 68 in Ibadan). On 14 July, with the backing of the ICRC and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the National Society launched a support programme in five south-western urban areas for some 5,000 internally displaced persons from minority communities who had lost their belongings in the disturbances.
The ICRC regional delegation in Lagos has been supporting the National Society's emergency-preparedness activities since 1988 by refurbishing disaster-intervention vehicles, providing telecommunications equipment and first-aid supplies and training volunteers.
Further information: Walter Stocker, ICRC Lagos, tel. ++2341 269 18 81
TAJIKISTAN FROM FOOD DISTRIBUTION TO FOOD PRODUCTION
A new ICRC assistance programme designed to help the Tajik prison administration start producing food for detainees is about to yield its first crops. Several plots of land covering a total area of approximately 154 hectares have been sown with potatoes, wheat and beans to supply the kitchens of 14 government-run prisons. Seed, fertilizers and various agricultural supplies were provided by the ICRC. Both the prison authorities and the Ministry of Agriculture welcomed this programme, which will allow them to grow enough food for the detainees.
Last week delegates proceeded with the final food distributions in prisons, putting an end to the nutritional assistance programme which the ICRC had launched in the summer of 1996 to reduce the alarming death rate among the 7,000 detainees who are languishing in Tajik jails. Although the programme achieved its aim, surveys show that the overall situation remains far from satisfactory. Each month the ICRC distributed about 120 tonnes of food for the detainees. However, in several prisons government supplies were reduced and the ICRC programme was used to replace ordinary rations.
While delegates can deliver assistance, they have so far been unable to hold private meetings with persons detained as a result of the 1992 internal conflict. Such meetings are standard ICRC practice.
Further information: Suzanne Berger, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2307
IRU/ICRC PHOTO COMPETITION
The International Road Transport Union (IRU), which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, awarded its 1998 Grand Prix d'Honneur to the ICRC in recognition of the professionalism and commitment of its drivers. In association with the ICRC, the IRU has now launched a photo competition entitled "Driving together - 50 years of road transport serving mankind". The competition comprises three categories (humanitarian, historical and modern) and is open to everyone except for the staff members of the two organizations. Participation in more than one category is allowed. In the humanitarian category, entries must show how transport serves people in countries beset by conflict or other crises. They do not necessarily have to deal with the Red Cross: any photo having to do with humanitarian action or a humanitarian organization will be taken into consideration.
Entries should be sent before 31 August 1998 to the address given below. They may also be sent to an ICRC field delegation or to the National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society of the country concerned. The winners will be chosen by a jury of experts and a prize of 5,000 Swiss francs will be awarded in each category. The best pictures will be displayed in an exhibition to be held at the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum starting 18 November 1998. . For further information and entry forms please contact Tony Burgener, REX/PRO, ICRC, 19 avenue de la Paix, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland (tel. ++4122 730 23 84; fax ++4122 730 28 99; e-mail: aburgener@icrc.org).
During the weekend of 18 - 19 July 1998, for all information please call the press officer on duty Ruben Ortega, on (mobile) 41 79 217 32 03