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RUSSIAN FEDERATION/ NORTHERN CAUCASUS ICRC SUSPENDS WORK Following the abduction of ICRC delegate Geraldo Cruz Ribeiro in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria, on Saturday 15 May, the ICRC took the decision to suspend all but its emergency humanitarian activities in the northern Caucasus until further notice.
SIERRA LEONE International Red Cross and Red Crescent BACK IN Freetown The two international components of the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, together returned to Sierra Leone on 17 May to resume operations for tens of thousands of people in need of emergency assistance.
Democratic Republic of THE Congo Red Cross buries dead, assists air raid victims in Eastern Kivu On Thursday 13 May, ICRC emergency teams checked on the needs of families directly affected by the Tuesday bombing of Goma and Uvira in the eastern Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
SENEGAL ICRC AIDS 100,500 DISPLACED IN CASAMANCE In cooperation with the local branch of the Senegalese Red Cross in Ziguinchor, the ICRC distributed 83.5 tonnes of rice and millet to some 10,500 displaced people in the Casamance region of Senegal from 11 to 17 May.
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RUSSIAN FEDERATION/ NORTHERN CAUCASUS ICRC SUSPENDS WORK
Following the abduction of ICRC delegate Geraldo Cruz Ribeiro in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria, on Saturday 15 May, the ICRC took the decision to suspend all but its emergency humanitarian activities in the northern Caucasus until further notice.
Mr Cruz Ribeiro, a 55-year-old delegate seconded to the ICRC by the New Zealand Red Cross, has been working in Nalchik since 1998. One of his main tasks was to support the home-visiting nurses programmes run by local Red Cross branches. This involved coordinating the work of 90 local nurses who give home care to 2,300 particularly vulnerable people -- most of them elderly -- in the region.
For the past two and a half years the ICRC has been supporting social welfare programmes organized by Russian Red Cross branches in eight northern Caucasus republics (Adygea, Chechnya, Daghestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Kalmykia, Karachia-Cherkessia and North Ossetia) and in the territories of Krasnodar and Stavropol in the southern part of the Russian Federation. In addition, it has been running its own relief programmes to help victims of the Chechen and Ingush-Ossetian conflicts. Altogether, it has regularly provided assistance for over 40,000 people in the region.
Since the end of 1996, security conditions have prevented the ICRC from deploying expatriate staff in Chechnya, Daghestan and Ingushetia, where assistance programmes have nevertheless continued thanks to the cooperation of the local Red Cross branches and local ICRC staff.
The ICRC remains in contact with the authorities in Nalchik, where four of the nine expatriate staff are staying on, and those in Moscow through its delegation there. It is determined to clear up this grave security incident and will spare no effort to secure Mr Cruz Ribeiro's release. A crisis unit has also been set up at ICRC headquarters in Geneva to monitor developments.
Further information: Francoise Derron, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2915
SIERRA LEONE International Red Cross and Red Crescent BACK IN Freetown
The two international components of the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, together returned to Sierra Leone on 17 May to resume operations for tens of thousands of people in need of emergency assistance.
Aid programmes are being taken up again after an interruption of four months. The first phase will involve an overall assessment of needs, but immediate priority will be given to urgent action such as providing temporary shelter for internally displaced people in the capital Freetown and supplying clinics in several districts with basic equipment.
During the outbreaks of fighting in January, the first task of the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society (SLRCS) was to get the wounded to health posts and hospitals and to collect the dead from the streets. The SLRCS runs three health centres in Freetown: at the National Stadium (west), Home Street (central) and Bailor Barrie's Compound (east). The centres are staffed by trained nurses and volunteers.
In addition, the SLRCS has two teams of first aiders working at the Connaught Hospital in Freetown, which has a functioning Red Cross blood bank.
The ICRC, working with the SLRCS, will handle emergency relief, health services, the dissemination of humanitarian law and the restoration of family links, while the International Federation will set up blood bank systems, carry out feeding programmes in schools and kindergartens, provide support for SLRCS activities and help the National Society build up its operational capacity.
Further information: Juan Martinez, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2281 Christian Frutiger, ICRC Abidjan, tel. ++225 222 459
International Federation in Geneva: Geir Andreassen, tel. ++4122 730 4471 Yves Bellego, tel. ++4122 730 4377 or mobile ++4179 416 3881 International Federation in Abidjan: Souleymane Kone, tel. ++225 21 28 91/22 48 53
Democratic Republic of THE Congo Red Cross buries dead, assists air raid victims in Eastern Kivu
On Thursday 13 May, ICRC emergency teams checked on the needs of families directly affected by the Tuesday bombing of Goma and Uvira in the eastern Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. First-aid volunteers from the National Red Cross Society buried more than 20 dead.
The ICRC found about 500 people who had suffered the effects of the bombing. Most of them had seen their homes and belongings destroyed and had sought shelter with host families.
"People around town in Goma are very sad today. We want to help civilians who have lost family members, including Red Cross staff, in any way we can. Naturally we hope there will be no more of these attacks, but we stand ready to provide assistance if need be", said Alain Kolly, head of the ICRC mission in Kivu.
The ICRC rapidly set about distributing blankets, plastic sheeting, kitchen sets and jerrycans to people left homeless. They were also given maize, beans and vegetable oil. Earlier the ICRC had handed over medical supplies, medicines and 50 blood bags to the hospitals in Goma and replenished the emergency stocks of the Uvira hospital.
Immediately after the attack, the Red Cross Society of the Democratic Republic of the Congo sent 10 teams of first-aid volunteers to bury the dead and take the wounded to hospital. The volunteers pulled more than 20 bodies from the rubble and evacuated dozens of wounded.
Ten ICRC expatriates are currently working with 130 Congolese staff in the Kivu region and in Kisangani.
Further information: Nina Galbe, ICRC Nairobi, tel. ++25 72 51 27 28 or ++25 42 72 83 87 Juan Martinez, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2281 or mobile ++4179 217 3217
SENEGAL ICRC AIDS 100,500 DISPLACED IN CASAMANCE
In cooperation with the local branch of the Senegalese Red Cross in Ziguinchor, the ICRC distributed 83.5 tonnes of rice and millet to some 10,500 displaced people in the Casamance region of Senegal from 11 to 17 May. The people concerned had fled their homes because of fighting between Senegalese government forces and the separatist Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance.
The latest clashes took place on 29 and 30 April around Ziguinchor airport and on the outskirts of the town. The ICRC has been carrying out ad hoc distributions of food aid to the displaced in the Ziguinchor area since 1997. The recent handout was the second this year.
Further information: Gilbert Delechat, ICRC Dakar, tel. ++221 8 241 293
For any information you may need on the weekend of 22-23 May or on Monday 24 May (national holiday) please call the press officer on duty Juan Martinez: 41 79 217 32 17