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YUGOSLAVIA/KOSOVO: ICRC STEPS UP FOOD DISTRIBUTION: Working in close cooperation with the World Food Programme, the ICRC has pinpointed the areas where people need more assistance and has begun to provide additional food for various distribution centres throughout Kosovo.
RWANDA: CHILDREN REUNITED WITH RELATIVES THANKS TO PHOTO-TRACING PROGRAMME: His nickname is "Bitama", which means "chubby baby" in Kinyarwanda. When he was first seen by ICRC delegates in 1997 he was unable to tell them who his parents were. He had been repatriated alone, no one had claimed him, and all he could remember was his nickname.
TOGO: THE RED CROSS AT SCHOOL: One month ago two Togolese primary schools started teaching the basic principles of the Red Cross, international humanitarian law and first aid to pupils between the ages of 7 and 13.
ANTI-PERSONNEL LANDMINES: ONE YEAR LATER: ICRC RENEWS CALL FOR RATIFICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF OTTAWA TREATY: It has now been a year since the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction was signed by 123 States in Ottawa, Canada.
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YUGOSLAVIA/KOSOVO ICRC STEPS UP FOOD DISTRIBUTION
Working in close cooperation with the World Food Programme, the ICRC has pinpointed the areas where people need more assistance and has begun to provide additional food for various distribution centres throughout Kosovo. On 30 November six trucks coming from Belgrade loaded with 60 tonnes of wheat flour, vegetable oil, sugar, salt, yeast and pasta reached Glogovac, in central Kosovo. Further convoys will bring 90 tonnes of food to Srbica and Kosovska Mitrovica (centre and north) this week. The assistance is meant to supplement regular ICRC relief operations in the field. From 1 to 26 November over 260 tonnes of food and thousands of blankets, shoes, clothing articles, hygiene items and baby kits were delivered to various towns and villages in the Pec, Prizren, Pristina and Drenica regions.
A total of 21 ICRC expatriates and 99 local staff members are currently engaged in medical, detention, tracing, relief and water and sanitation operations in Kosovo.
Further information: Josue Anselmo, ICRC Pristina, tel: ++ 3810 385 90074 Amanda Williamson, ICRC Geneva, tel: ++ 4122 730 2678
RWANDA CHILDREN REUNITED WITH RELATIVES THANKS TO PHOTO-TRACING PROGRAMME
His nickname is "Bitama", which means "chubby baby" in Kinyarwanda. When he was first seen by ICRC delegates in 1997 he was unable to tell them who his parents were. He had been repatriated alone, no one had claimed him, and all he could remember was his nickname.
Nonetheless, on 27 November the ICRC was able to reunite him with his grandmother, who had recognized his picture in an album containing photographs of countless other young children and had provided ICRC delegates with personal details that proved he really was her grandson. According to his grandmother, Bitama was born in 1992 in Masaka, near Kigali, and both his parents were dead.
Bitama was the 700th child to be reunited with a relative under a photo-tracing programme launched in May 1997 in cooperation with UNICEF. Three albums containing a total of 1,655 photographs of young children have been published so far, and 10,000 copies of each have been distributed throughout the country to associations and local authorities which display the photos where the public can easily see them. The photo-tracing concept was developed for children who are either too young or too traumatized to provide the information needed to start up normal reunification proceedings.
The ICRC is continuing to search for the relatives of some 5,200 other children who are currently being looked after by host families or orphanages. Since 1994 more than 48,000 unaccompanied children have been reunited with at least one of their relatives in Rwanda.
Further information: Graziella de Vecchi, ICRC Kigali, tel: ++250 72 344
TOGO THE RED CROSS AT SCHOOL
One month ago two Togolese primary schools started teaching the basic principles of the Red Cross, international humanitarian law and first aid to pupils between the ages of 7 and 13. The schools of Atti-Touwi and Tovegan, situated 70 kilometres north-west of the capital, Lome, are part of a pilot project launched by the Togolese Red Cross and the ICRC under the auspices of the Ministry of Education.
The purpose of the project is to integrate these new subjects into the existing primary school curriculum. After attending an academic workshop that lasted several days, teachers from both schools adapted booklets provided by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to meet their particular needs.
"It is essential for children to familiarize themselves with the principles of tolerance and solidarity from a very young age", said Rene Parkoo, headmaster of the school in Atti-Touwi. As a first step, basic Red Cross concepts and rules of international humanitarian law are being taught in civics and ethics courses, where children learn, for example, that vulnerable people are entitled to assistance. First-aid activities in case of floods or drought will be covered in geography lessons.
The Togolese Red Cross has drawn on experience gained in Tunisia, Senegal and Conakry, Guinea, where similar programmes have been conducted. It plans to extend the project to other primary schools in the country.
Further information: Christian Frutiger, ICRC Abidjan, tel: ++225 22 24 60/61 Dominique Seshie, ICRC Lome, tel: ++228 21 55 28
ANTI-PERSONNEL LANDMINES ONE YEAR LATER: ICRC RENEWS CALL FOR RATIFICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF OTTAWA TREATY
It has now been a year since the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction was signed by 123 States in Ottawa, Canada. The number of ratifications (40) needed to bring the treaty into force was reached on 16 September 1998, in record time for an arms-related treaty. Yet landmines will continue to cause untold suffering until the treaty becomes universal and is implemented on the ground.
The ICRC once again calls on all States which have not yet done so to sign and/or ratify the treaty without delay. It also urges States which have not yet done so to adhere to amended Protocol II to the 1980 UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. This protocol restricts the use of anti-personnel mines for States that continue to employ them, as well as that of anti-vehicle mines, booby traps and other explosive devices which are not covered by the Ottawa treaty and have a severe impact on civilians. Amended Protocol II, to which 27 States are now party, enters into force on 3 December.
While welcoming the speed at which the Ottawa treaty has been ratified, ICRC President Cornelio Sommaruga stressed that "landmines pay no attention to treaties". "It is only when States fulfil their obligation to clear mines, destroy stockpiles and assist victims that the treaty will begin to save lives", said Mr Sommaruga, who pointed out that the real challenge was to mobilize the resources needed to implement the Ottawa treaty at national and international levels. "The tragic lesson to be drawn from the recent floods in Central America is that mines can go on maiming years after they have been laid", said the ICRC President. "They can also travel to areas many kilometres away. Every day counts."
A total of 131 States have now signed the treaty and 55 have ratified it. The treaty will enter into force on 1 March 1999 for the 40 States that ratified it by 16 September and six months after ratification for other States. Once the treaty has entered into force, States will have four years to destroy existing stockpiles, which 11 States have already done, and 10 years to clear all mines from the ground. The first meeting of States Parties is to be held in May 1999, in Maputo, Mozambique.
Having set up three new prosthetic/orthotic centres in mine-infested countries in 1998, the ICRC now operates 22 such facilities in 11 countries - Afghanistan, Angola, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Georgia, Iraq, Kenya, Rwanda, Tajikistan and Uganda. The ICRC also conducts mine-awareness programmes in Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, teaching people living near mined areas how to avoid life-shattering accidents.
Further information: Louis Maresca, ICRC Geneva, tel: ++ 4122 730 26 94 Catherine Mikton, ICRC Geneva, tel: ++ 4122 730 25 79
During the weekend of 5 - 6 December 1998, for all information please call the press officer on duty Amanda Williamson, on (mobile) 41 79 357 15 24