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SOUTHERN SUDAN: ICRC STEPS UP RELIEF ACTIVITIES FOR FAMINE VICTIMS: The ICRC this week increased its presence in the town of Wau, in southern Sudan, from two to six expatriates.
AFGHANISTAN: ICRC BRINGS MEDICAL AID TO MAZAR-I-SHARIF: After the recent heavy fighting between Taliban forces and the northern alliance in Mazar-i-Sharif, the ICRC delivered 200 medical sets for war-wounded patients to the city's military hospital, from where it also transferred six wounded people to the hospital in Shibirghan.
GUINEA-BISSAU: ICRC CONVOY CROSSES THE FRONT LINE: On 10 August an ICRC convoy carried food supplies across the front line in Guinea-Bissau. The convoy went from the capital, Bissau, to the towns of Mansoa and Canchungo, in the part of the country that has been in rebel hands since early June.
COLOMBIA: EVACUATIONS FOLLOW CLASHES: On 5 August, after intense fighting between government armed forces and the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) rocked the Miraflores region of Guaviare department in eastern Colombia, the ICRC and the Colombian Red Cross carried out an operation to evacuate the wounded and transport mortal remains out of the area.
ANGOLA: MEDICAL ASSISTANCE FOR CONFLICT VICTIMS: Following the recent clashes in Bula, in Lunda Norte province, the ICRC has been providing medical assistance for the victims of the fighting.
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SOUTHERN SUDAN ICRC STEPS UP RELIEF ACTIVITIES FOR FAMINE VICTIMS
The ICRC this week increased its presence in the town of Wau, in southern Sudan, from two to six expatriates. In addition to supporting the Sudanese Red Crescent feeding centre for malnourished children that has been operating for about three months, the ICRC has now opened a similar facility for malnourished adults. The new centre is currently able to cover the needs of up to 1,000 persons per day, and will gradually increase its capacity. To improve the local water and sanitation system in Wau, the ICRC has dispatched two water and sanitation engineers to the town.
Since the beginning of this week, another feeding centre, in Tonj, has been providing cooked meals for 600 children and up to 1,000 adults suffering from malnutrition.
Additional medical staff have arrived in Juba to provide surgical services at the Juba Teaching Hospital and to support three primary health-care clinics. This will complement the surgical services provided by the ICRC's 500-bed hospital in Lokichokio, in northern Kenya, which has been treating patients from Sudan since 1987.
ICRC teams are continuing their surveys in a number of locations in Bahr al-Ghazal, as well as in the Lakes and Equatoria provinces. Their conclusions, which will be based on both the conditions of the local population and the capacity of other humanitarian organizations working in those areas, will guide further ICRC emergency assistance to those in need.
Apart from the emergency relief work described above, the ICRC is planning longer-term integrated projects in some communities. It will set up clinics and water and sanitation facilities, and will provide other assistance to enable the local population to recover some degree of economic self-sufficiency.
The ICRC recently completed a second visit to prisoners detained in connection with the conflict in southern Sudan by the Sudanese People's Liberation Army. In addition, the ICRC's tracing service in Sudan handles up to six thousand Red Cross messages every month, thus allowing relatives separated by the conflict to remain in touch.
Further information: Bernard Barrett, ICRC Khartoum, tel. ++ 249 11 467 709 Roland Sidler, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 41 22 730 22 81
AFGHANISTAN ICRC BRINGS MEDICAL AID TO MAZAR-I-SHARIF
After the recent heavy fighting between Taliban forces and the northern alliance in Mazar-i-Sharif, the ICRC delivered 200 medical sets for war-wounded patients to the city's military hospital, from where it also transferred six wounded people to the hospital in Shibirghan.
The situation remains tense in Mazar-i-Sharif and the surrounding area where the ICRC has carried on working through its Afghan employees as well as in several other regions of the country. Otherwise, ICRC activities are continuing in Kabul, Kandahar, Jalalabad, Herat and Ghazni.
Further information: Corinne Adam, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 41 22 730 22 24
GUINEA-BISSAU ICRC CONVOY CROSSES THE FRONT LINE
On 10 August an ICRC convoy carried food supplies across the front line in Guinea-Bissau. The convoy went from the capital, Bissau, to the towns of Mansoa and Canchungo, in the part of the country that has been in rebel hands since early June. Seven trucks delivered 80 tonnes of food (mainly rice, tinned meat and oil) originating from World Food Programme (WFP) stocks and a Portuguese government donation.
The displaced, whose numbers are put at around 250,000, have mainly found shelter with local residents or have returned to their villages. With the support of the Red Cross Society of Guinea-Bissau, the ICRC has provided over 300 tonnes of food in the Cacheu, Quinara, Bafata and Tombali areas since the conflict broke out. The National Society and the ICRC have also distributed nearly 300 tonnes of WFP food to some 50,000 people remaining in the capital.
The ICRC is continuing negotiations to gain access to all persons detained in connection with the conflict. A programme has been set up to enable members of families separated by the fighting to exchange news via Red Cross messages.
Further information: Roland Sidler, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 41 22 730 22 81
COLOMBIA EVACUATIONS FOLLOW CLASHES
On 5 August, after intense fighting between government armed forces and the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) rocked the Miraflores region of Guaviare department in eastern Colombia, the ICRC and the Colombian Red Cross carried out an operation to evacuate the wounded and transport mortal remains out of the area.
Having received a request on 5 August to proceed with the evacuation operation, the ICRC and the National Society chartered a DC3 aircraft the same day to reach the remote region. Once the necessary authorizations had been obtained, the ICRC team arrived in Miraflores, from where 14 wounded soldiers were transferred to hospital in the departmental capital, San Jose del Guaviare, by Colombian Red Cross volunteers. The mortal remains of nine soldiers were later flown out by the ICRC plane and brought to the military base in San Jose.
Further information: Beatrice Megevand-Roggo, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 41 22 730 29 04
ANGOLA MEDICAL ASSISTANCE FOR CONFLICT VICTIMS
Following the recent clashes in Bula, in Lunda Norte province, the ICRC has been providing medical assistance for the victims of the fighting. The delegation has been working with the Angola Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to deliver the aid.
Some 100 kilograms of medical supplies -- enough to cover the needs of 10,000 patients for one month -- were handed over to the hospital in Kuango, which supplies the municipality's medical facilities. The assistance, which also includes dressings, antibiotics and antimalarial drugs, will make it possible not only to deal with medical emergencies related to the conflict but also to treat the diseases that are most prevalent in the region.
Further information: Paolo Dell'Oca, ICRC Luanda, tel. ++ 2442 366 288
New on the ICRC Public Server - http://www.icrc.org : - Update No 98/04 on ICRC activities in Guinea-Bissau, dated 10.08.98
During the weekend of 15 - 16 August 1998, for all information please call the press officer on duty Amanda Williamson, on (mobile) 41 79 357 15 24