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EAST TIMOR: 230 RED CROSS MESSAGES GATHERED IN ONE DAY: On 27 September the ICRC in Dili gathered 230 messages from people anxious for news of their relatives.
RUSSIAN FEDERATION / NORTHERN CAUCASUS: TENS OF THOUSANDS OF NEWLY DISPLACED : Following the latest Russian air strikes in Chechnya and the resulting displacement of an officially estimated total of 30,000 to 50,000 people seeking refuge in the neighbouring republic of Ingushetia, the ICRC is stepping up its current assistance programmes in order to respond to new humanitarian needs.
SUDAN: seed and tool distribution SHOWS PROMISING RESULTS: Over 300,000 Sudanese received seed and tools from the ICRC last March.
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EAST TIMOR 1230 RED CROSS MESSAGES GATHERED IN ONE DAY
On 27 September the ICRC in Dili gathered 230 messages from people anxious for news of their relatives. Having learned by word of mouth that the ICRC's tracing agency had opened an office in Dili, people from the city and its outskirts arrived in small groups to find out how the ICRC "postal service" worked. Thousands were separated from their relatives during the recent events in East Timor and have no means of contacting them.
The messages will be sent to Red Cross offices in the region and those to whom they are addressed will be able to answer them. The ICRC will then deliver their replies. A satellite phone has also been installed in the ICRC offices in Dili so that those who have a number to reach can try and get in touch with their relatives more quickly.
Further information: Christopher Bowers, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++41 22 730 2061
RUSSIAN FEDERATION / NORTHERN CAUCASUS TENS OF THOUSANDS OF NEWLY DISPLACED
Following the latest Russian air strikes in Chechnya and the resulting displacement of an officially estimated total of 30,000 to 50,000 people seeking refuge in the neighbouring republic of Ingushetia, the ICRC is stepping up its current assistance programmes in order to respond to new humanitarian needs.
According to an initial assessment carried out by the local Red Cross in Nazran (Ingushetia), many of these people have found shelter among the local population but they are in urgent need of bread, blankets, stoves and other essential items. Consequently, additional relief convoys are being organized in Nalchik (Kabardino-Balkaria).
Serious security constraints during the past two and a half years have led the ICRC to withdraw its expatriate staff from the republics of Chechnya, Daghestan, Ingushetia, North Ossetia and Stavropol Krai, where assistance programmes continue to be implemented from the ICRC sub-delegation in Nalchik thanks to the local Red Cross network and 115ICRC local employees stationed throughout the eastern part of the Northern Caucasus.
Since hostilities broke out in Daghestan and on its border with Chechnya in August, the local Red Cross and ICRC local staff have distributed food and other assistance to nearly all the estimated 30,000 people who have been displaced. Furthermore, medical facilities treating the war-wounded have been provided with emergency equipment and medicines both in Daghestan and Chechnya.
Further information: Suzanne Berger, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++ 41 22 730 2307
SUDAN seed and tool distribution SHOWS PROMISING RESULTS
Over 300,000 Sudanese received seed and tools from the ICRC last March. With the rainy season already well advanced, delegates went back to some of the distribution points to assess the programme's impact on people's ability to grow their own food.
"If the rains don't stop early this year, I'll have enough to survive," said Athiok Kwik as she cut a stalk of the sorghum she had planted. Athiok and her daughter had left their little village called Malual Muok, in Bahr al-Ghazal province, during the famine last year and had gone to the town of Tonj, where an ICRC feeding centre provided them with assistance. Later, when the ICRC seed and tools were distributed, she was given her share by the community leaders.
Interviews with beneficiaries in various areas showed an improvement in the situation of the most vulnerable. The groundnut and okra seed had been widely planted and these crops had even been replanted for a second harvest. However, the sorghum seed had been used more sparingly since the Sudanese normally rely on a broad range of local varieties which they mix to minimize the risk of crop failure.
After monitoring the programme for one month, ICRC agronomist Raphy Favre concluded: "The more vulnerable people were, the more willing they were to plant ICRC seed. However, targeting the most needy is not an easy task in these communities, which tend to share relief items equally among clans, lineages and families.
Further information: Laurent Dufour, ICRC Khartoum, tel. ++ 249 11 476 464
During the weekend of 2 - 3 October 1999, for all information please call the press officer on duty Corinne Adam, on (mobile) 41 79 202 36 80