** SHORT MENU.... BALKANS CRISIS AID STEPPED UP FOR AIR STRIKE VICTIMS IN YUGOSLAVIA The ICRC delegation in Belgrade, together with the Yugoslav Red Cross, has increased its assistance for victims of air strikes in various parts of the country.
BALKAN CRISIS RESTORING FAMILY LINKS: GROWING NUMBER OF REQUESTS Since the beginning of the crisis, the ICRC has registered nearly 650 unaccompanied children in Albania and in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and over 1,200 families have asked for help in tracing children or otherwise vulnerable persons.
GUINEA-BISSAU RESUMPTION OF FIGHTING: RED CROSS EVACUATES WOUNDED On the evening of 6 May government troops loyal to President Vieira and rebel forces led by General Mane clashed for the fourth time since a cease-fire was signed in August 1998.
AFGHANISTAN VACCINATION PROGRAMME RESUMES IN PARWAN PROVINCE After more than two years of interruption due to the conflict, a vaccination programme has started up again in Parwan Province, north of Kabul.
** STORIES IN FULL... BALKANS CRISIS AID STEPPED UP FOR AIR STRIKE VICTIMS IN YUGOSLAVIA
The ICRC delegation in Belgrade, together with the Yugoslav Red Cross, has increased its assistance for victims of air strikes in various parts of the country. Last week some 50 tonnes of bulk food and over 5,000 individual food parcels were distributed in Surdulica, Novi Sad and Valjevo. Relief also included plastic sheeting, blankets and mattresses, hygiene parcels, jerrycans and candles.
Following the bombing of areas of Nis at the end of the week, surgical supplies were sent to the city's medical centre, where the wounded are being treated. Similar deliveries have been made in the past 10 days to Surdulica, Novi Sad, Aleksinac, Prokuplje, Vranje and Valjevo.
RESTORING FAMILY LINKS: GROWING NUMBER OF REQUESTS
Since the beginning of the crisis, the ICRC has registered nearly 650 unaccompanied children in Albania and in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and over 1,200 families have asked for help in tracing children or otherwise vulnerable persons. Delegates have so far been able to reunite members of 73 families within Macedonia or Albania, transferring some across the border. This activity is being carried out in cooperation with the local Red Cross and other organizations, including UNHCR, UNICEF, SCF and CARE.
Meanwhile, phone links continue to be an essential means of restoring contact between family members when refugees first arrive in Albania and Macedonia. Many refugees then keep in touch through Red Cross messages. Up to now over 4,200 such messages have been sent through the ICRC, which has also made telephones available in Montenegro.
Radio Tirana and four major international networks (BBC, Deutsche Welle, Radio France International and Voice of America) continue to broadcast lists of names so as to let people know that their relatives are safe. More than 3,000 names of refugees in Albania, and a smaller number in Montenegro, have so far been read out over the air.
Further information: Amanda Williamson, ICRC Geneva, tel: ++ 4122 730 26 78
GUINEA-BISSAU RESUMPTION OF FIGHTING: RED CROSS EVACUATES WOUNDED
On the evening of 6 May government troops loyal to President Vieira and rebel forces led by General Mane clashed for the fourth time since a cease-fire was signed in August 1998. The next day, after violent fighting in the streets of Bissau, government forces surrendered to General Mane's military junta. At least 80 civilians and combatants died and 180 were wounded in the clashes.
As soon as the violence broke out, the ICRC provided the Simao Mendes Hospital with emergency medical aid consisting of 8 dressing kits that covered the needs of about 320 wounded. On 7 and 8 May, teams from the Red Cross Society of Guinea-Bissau evacuated about 60 wounded and 80 dead (including the bodies of 55 civilians found in a shelter for displaced persons that was "mistakenly" hit by two shells). Other National Society teams helped medical personnel by cleaning the hospital.
As calm returned to the capital, the ICRC approached the military junta and ECOMOG forces to obtain rapid access, in conformity with its mandate, to those arrested. On 10 May ECOMOG handed over to the authorities some 600 government troops and other persons, some of whom had sought safety in ECOMOG camps during the fighting. Since the beginning of the conflict in June 1998 the ICRC has visited 78 prisoners.
Further information: Gilbert Delechat, ICRC Dakar, tel: ++221 8 241 293
AFGHANISTAN VACCINATION PROGRAMME RESUMES IN PARWAN PROVINCE
After more than two years of interruption due to the conflict, a vaccination programme has started up again in Parwan Province, north of Kabul.
The ICRC has assessed the situation in 11 vaccination centres and rehabilitated an efficient cold chain in nine of them with material airlifted from Kabul to Bagram. This will make it possible to immunize 50,000 children and 66,000 women against the most common diseases as part of campaigns organized by UNICEF and the public health authorities.
UNICEF will now take over the monitoring and coordination of the vaccination programme while the ICRC continues to provide logistical support.
The ICRC is currently assessing the situation in six additional centres located in Kapisa Province, north of Kabul.
Further information: Hilaman Qasem, ICRC Kabul, tel: ++873 761 242 260
On Thursday 13 May and during the weekend of 15-16 May, please contact Francoise Derron on (mobile) 41 79 217 32 03 for general information and Nic Sommer on (mobile) 41 79 217 32 60 for information on the Balkans.