Iraq: Civilians still facing hardship every day

Geneva/Baghdad (ICRC) – Six years after the opening shots were fired in Iraq's latest war, millions of civilians are still facing hardship every day, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said today. "Indiscriminate attacks continue to leave dozens of people killed or injured on a daily basis despite improvements in the security situation in many parts of Iraq," said Jakob Kellenberger, the ICRC's president, during a five-day visit to the country. The aim of his trip was to gain a first-hand impression of the humanitarian situation and to meet with senior political and religious leaders in Baghdad and Najaf, including Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki and Foreign Minister Hushiar Zebari.

The humanitarian situation in many areas of the country remains serious despite the Iraqi authorities' considerable efforts to provide basic services such as water and health care. "Further work is required to ensure that the basic needs of Iraqis are met. The ICRC is supporting these efforts, but the scale of the needs exceeds the emergency aid we can provide," said Mr Kellenberger. In 2008, the ICRC helped around four million people procure clean water and more than 500,000 people obtain better access to primary health care and basic emergency services, and provided more than 100,000 displaced people with other assistance.

Mr Kellenberger also visited Rusafa Prison in Baghdad, where the ICRC has been regularly monitoring conditions of detention and the treatment of approximately 7,000 detainees. "The Iraqi authorities have granted the ICRC access to all places of detention throughout the national territory, and we hope to be able to conduct more visits in the near future," said Mr Kellenberger. Visiting detainees remains the ICRC's priority in the country, where the organization's delegates carry out regular visits to more than 27,000 detainees held by the Iraqi central government, the US/Multinational Force in Iraq (MNF-I) and the Kurdistan regional government. Mr Kellenberger placed particular emphasis on the authorities' obligation to respect the judicial guarantees afforded detainees under international law.

In his discussions with the authorities, Mr Kellenberger also raised the issue of people who have gone missing as a result of the successive conflicts that have afflicted the country. The ICRC president encouraged the authorities to press ahead with their efforts to clarify what happened to these missing people.

Sri Lanka: as crisis escalates, ICRC continues to assist civilians

Fighting continues between Sri Lankan government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), prompting growing fears for the lives of those trapped in the conflict area. The ICRC has been bringing a little hope, evacuating the sick and wounded and escorting boats carrying food and limited medicines.

Tens of thousands of people confined to a rapidly-shrinking area have headed for the coast to escape the fighting, in search of safety, food and medical care. But numbers in the coastal belt held by the LTTE have increased drastically over recent weeks, and clean water is scarce. The area is affected by shelling every day, and the cramped conditions and the lack of water and proper sanitation are putting people at risk of epidemics.

"The humanitarian situation is deteriorating by the day," said Paul Castella, head of the ICRC’s Colombo delegation. "Many of these people are forced to shelter in trenches. They are in considerable physical danger. After having been forced to move from place to place en masse for weeks or even months, they depend entirely on food from outside the conflict area."

The sick and wounded continue to arrive at Putumattalan, where local people have helped set up a makeshift medical facility in a community centre and a school. Medical staff from the ministry of health do their best to cope with a constant influx of people injured by the fighting. But medical supplies are insufficient.

With the agreement of the government and the LTTE, the ICRC has continued to evacuate patients from Putumattalan (which is in the LTTE-held area) to Trincomalee (in the government-held area). The ICRC-chartered Green Ocean ferry has evacuated over 4,000 sick and wounded people, together with their carers, since evacuations started on 10 February. The evacuees included over 1,400 people in need of surgery, so an ICRC medical team consisting of a surgeon, an anaesthetist and a nurse are helping Trincomalee Hospital to handle the influx.

Since mid-February, the ICRC has on 12 occasions facilitated the movement of food shipments from Trincomalee to Putumattalan, delivering a total of over 700 tonnes of flour, dhal, sugar and oil provided by the government and the World Food Programme. On three occasions it was possible to deliver some medicines provided by the ministry of health, but the quantities were too limited by comparison with the needs.

"With patients continuing to arrive at the improvized medical facility in Putumattalan, it is essential that evacuations take place regularly and without interference. It is encouraging to see food and medicines going into the conflict area, but they must be delivered regularly if they are to have an impact," said Morven Murchison, who coordinates the ICRC's health activities in Sri Lanka.

The civil and military authorities have helped with the medical evacuations and the food shipments, as have local people. Offloading food onto the beach in Putumattalan may involve up to 275 people transporting the food in fishing boats and carrying it ashore. These are dangerous and complex operations. The fighting is one hazard, but bad weather and heavy seas often make things worse.

With the help of the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society, the ICRC was able to give 130 sick and wounded evacuees personal hygiene kits, emergency household kits, kitchen utensils and baby-care parcels. These people received medical treatment at hospitals in Trincomalee and Vavuniya.

ICRC staff member killed

ICRC employee Vadivel Vijayakumar was killed by shelling on 4 March just north of Valayanmadam, on the coastal belt of the territory held by the LTTE. His nine-year-old son was injured in the same incident. This is the second time in less than three months that an ICRC staff member has been killed in Sri Lanka. Mr Vijayakumar leaves a wife and three children.

Acting as a neutral intermediary between the government and the LTTE

The conflict has disrupted traffic through Omanthai, formerly the only crossing point between government and LTTE areas, However, in January the ICRC facilitated the passage of 360 civilians, including 70 patients seeking treatment in Vavuniya hospital and nearly 125 vehicles, including ambulances. ICRC staff also transported the bodies of 100 fighters over the same period, 99 of them in January. The last ICRC-escorted land convoy took place on 29 January. Since 10 February, the ICRC has been facilitating the movement of the sick, the wounded and humanitarian aid between the LTTE- and government-held areas by sea.

Emergency aid for villagers following attack

An attack on a village in Ampara district in February left 14 dead and 10 injured. The ICRC provided a total of 143 families with personal hygiene kits and baby care parcels, while 20 families displaced by the attack received basic household requisites. Five families whose houses had been burned down in the attack also received a tarpaulin, kitchen utensils and a kerosene cooker.

Protecting civilians and detainees

The ICRC continues to monitor allegations concerning violations of international humanitarian law affecting civilians throughout the country. In January and February, over 3,900 people contacted the organization with allegations concerning missing persons, arbitrary arrests, recruitment of minors, unlawful killings and ill-treatment of civilians by arms bearers. In order not to endanger the people reporting such violations, ICRC staff discussed their reports bilaterally with the parties involved.

With the cooperation of government officials and the LTTE, the ICRC has been visiting people arrested in connection with the armed conflict to monitor their treatment and conditions of detention. ICRC delegates held private talks with over 1,400 security detainees in over 70 places of detention throughout the country and provided them with clothes, toiletries and recreational items. The ICRC paid for 10 detainees to return home by public transport after release, and for the families of 635 detainees to visit their detained relatives.

Working with volunteers from the SLRCS, the ICRC has been providing water and sanitation facilities for displaced persons in transit centres in Vavuniya and Jaffna. Over 150 toilets have been built, along with tanks to store water.

Restoring family links through Red Cross messages

Red Cross messages help detainees, their relatives and separated families to keep in touch. In January and February the ICRC and the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society collected over 1,000 messages and distributed almost 400.

Enhancing respect for international humanitarian law

As part of its efforts to increase respect for international humanitarian law, the ICRC conducted information sessions for over 2,500 people including civilians, the Tamil People’s Liberation Tigers (TMVP), the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) and government security forces.

Supporting the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society

The ICRC continues helps the Sri Lanka Red Cross to maintain family links and develop awareness of Red Cross and Red Crescent principles. Fifteen volunteers from the SLRCS received training to set up emergency tents and shelters.

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Fifth World Water Forum: War victims need better access to water and sanitation

Istanbul/Geneva (ICRC) – The international community must do more to ensure that the victims of armed conflict have access to safe water and sanitation, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

The ICRC is calling on governments taking part in the Fifth World Water Forum in Turkey this week to make a serious commitment to protect water and sanitation systems in times of war and to maintain services in conflict-prone areas to prevent them from collapsing.

"Water, sewage and electrical power systems, along with medical facilities, are usually the first things to be disrupted when a war breaks out," said Robert Mardini, who heads the ICRC's water and habitat unit. "They can be damaged or shut down completely by shelling and explosions, or overwhelmed by influxes of displaced people. Such incidents are often followed by massive shortages and by rapidly spreading disease that can result in loss of life." Mr Mardini cited Iraq, Gaza, Sri Lanka and Somalia as examples of places where the delivery of water supplies and sanitation services has been severely hampered by recent armed conflicts.

Roughly a quarter of the estimated 1.2 billion people unable to obtain clean drinking water, and 15 per cent of the 2.6 billion without access to proper sanitation, are in war-torn countries. "Access to safe water and adequate sanitation are fundamental for conflict-affected people," said Mr Mardini. "The ICRC aims to use the World Water Forum to put this issue higher up the international agenda and to remind governments of their responsibilities in this respect."

Mr Mardini drew attention to the double adversity faced by war victims struggling to survive a natural disaster. "When a natural disaster, such as a prolonged drought, exacerbates the devastation wrought by conflict, as in Somalia, people become far more vulnerable to poverty and disease."

The ICRC's efforts to improve water and sanitation involve working with communities and Red Cross and Red Crescent partners to provide emergency assistance where needed and to develop sustainable practices. The organization's neutral and impartial role enables it to talk to all sides in a conflict, and thereby to help restore access to water even as fighting rages on.

ICRC: better access to water needed for war victims - Istanbul World Water Forum 16 March 2009

The International Committee of the Red Cross is calling on governments participating at the 5th World Water Forum in Turkey (16^th – 22^nd March) to give victims of armed conflict better access to water and sanitation services.

The call comes as ICRC teams repair water and sewage systems in Gaza that were badly damaged during the 3 week Israeli military operations in January. According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, one fifth of the population had no direct access to drinking water and relied on water purchased from private suppliers. Today, thousands of people still have no access to running water.

The treatment of sewage remains a problem. Gaza's biggest wastewater treatment plant in Sheikh Ajleen, treating raw sewage from some 400,000 people, has been out of order since it was hit by a shell during the second week of the conflict. Raw sewage poured directly into residential areas, agricultural lands and the Mediterranean Sea posing a serious public health threat. A main sewage pipe line was repaired by a team of ICRC and Palestinian engineers on 22nd January, but extensive repair work needs to be carried out before the treatment plant is fully operational.

However repair efforts have been hampered by delays in obtaining approval from the Israeli authorities to bring in pipes and spare parts for Sheikh Ajleen and other water treatment plants.

"The first thing people ask us for is water and electricity", says Marek Komarzynski, ICRC water engineer. "That is what they need to lead anything like normal lives."

Gaza's water infrastructure was in a poor state even before the recent conflict as Israel's closure policy had greatly restricted the supply of materials to maintain the system over the past 18 months.

"Of course it is an emergency situation", says Farid Ashour, site manager with the Coastal Municipalities Water Unit, that works with the ICRC on repairing and rebuilding Gaza's sewage and water treatment system. "We are all suffering from the closures and we are suffering from the lack of materials. By ICRC we think we are doing something good to the people and they are really helpful and they are helping the Palestinians."

Before the recent outbreak of hostilities, hospitals were already struggling to provide clean water for their patients. Those on kidney dialysis machines were particularly badly hit.

Working with the Ministry of Health, over the past two years the ICRC has also been installing water purification systems in Gaza's main hospitals.

Roughly a quarter of the estimated 1.2 billion people unable to obtain clean drinking water are in war torn countries. 15 % of the 2.6 billion people without access to proper sanitation live in conflict affected areas.
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TOP UN OFFICIALS SPOTLIGHT PROGRESS ON ANNIVERSARY OF ANTI-LANDMINE TREATY

TOP UN OFFICIALS SPOTLIGHT PROGRESS ON ANNIVERSARY OF ANTI-LANDMINE TREATY
New York, Feb 27 2009 6:00PM

Last year bomb disposal experts cleared over 200,000 landmines around the world, contributing to the progress made in ridding the anti-personnel and anti-vehicle explosives from the planet over the past decade, the United Nations Mine Action Team said today.

"Much has been achieved since the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention entered into force 10 years ago," the Team said in a statement marking the anniversary of the signing of the watershed treaty (1 March).

The Team, comprised of 14 different UN entities, said it was "greatly impressed and heartened by the steady decline in casualty rates, the return of formerly mined areas to productive civilian use and the destruction of tens of millions of these deadly weapons."

It estimated that 190,000 anti-personnel and 10,000 anti-vehicle mines were destroyed in 2008, and an increased number of countries have declared completion of their mine clearance operations, including most recently France, Malawi and Swaziland.

"We applaud the progress made in the struggle against the scourge of landmines," the statement read, reaffirming the Team's commitment to assist mine-affected countries "in meeting their obligations to clear mined areas, assist victims, destroy stockpiled landmines and educate women, men, girls, and boys about the dangers of landmines and explosive remnants of war."

The statement also urged Member States to fully support three pacts signed in recent years aimed at reducing and eventually eliminating the humanitarian suffering and negative development impact of landmines and explosive remnants of war.

It underscored that the Mine-Ban Convention "is an excellent example of effective collective efforts by States, the United Nations, regional organizations, NGOs and the International Committee of the Red Cross aimed at ridding the world of indiscriminate weapons."
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Women in the Crossfire - ICRC Calls for Better Health Care for Women in Conflict Zones

Women in the crossfire - ICRC calls for better health care for women in conflict zones

In areas ravaged by conflict, the health needs of women are often neglected and ignored. As the bombs fall, the damage to infrastructure and communications affects the whole community but women are particularly at risk. They are often prevented from reaching a health facility to give birth safely, or to care for their sick children. In some conflict-torn areas they suffer sexual violence, including rape. And while the war-wounded and emergency cases get priority, women's needs, and in particular the needs of pregnant mothers and their children, are often given scant attention.

In the recent conflict in Gaza the lives of women and their young children in desperate need of health care were put at risk. Ambulances were unable to operate freely. Women in labour could not reach a safe place to have their babies – one woman gave birth in a donkey cart trying to reach hospital, delayed by the fighting.

In Somalia, over a decade of conflict has devastated health services and death rates among pregnant women are among the highest in the world (WHO statistics). Conflict adds to the suffering when women cannot access the scant services that do exist.

In the aftermath of war, the destruction of health services often prevents women returning to their homes and villages. The need to provide reproductive health care is particularly urgent. Without it, families cannot return to normality and start rebuilding their lives.

International Humanitarian Law requires that expectant mothers be the object of particular protection and respect. Nadine Puechguirbal, ICRC's Women and War adviser, stresses that during conflict, "International humanitarian law must be implemented …women must get access to a proper health care system and humanitarian workers must be allowed to do their jobs."

On International Women's Day, the ICRC demands more respect for international humanitarian law, and calls for a greater focus on the predicament of women who, because of war and its aftermath, do not receive basic health care for themselves and their babies.

SOMALIA - story

Few women in Somalia's war zone are as fortunate as Halima who managed to reach Mogadishu’s KeysaneyHospital in time for an emergency caesarean section which saved her life and that of her baby.

By the time she was operated on, she had been in labour for 24 hours. She and her husband had spent four hours in transit trying to find a hospital to take her because fighting made it impossible to reach the city’s maternity facility.

The trauma specialists in KeysaneyHospital have received training in war surgery from the ICRC. They are more familiar with war wounds than delivering babies. But the chaotic and dangerous conditions in Mogadishu mean they must take on all those who manage to survive the journey there.

When Halima arrived at the hospital, the surgeons were preparing to operate on a young man with a gun shot wound. He had to wait his turn while her baby was delivered. Halima's condition was critical but both mother and son survived.

In war zones pregnant women and their children have few resources and are at high risk. Survival is often a matter of chance. As the conflict drags on in Somalia, the situation for women is, if anything, worsening.

Additional information:

• The number of Somali women dying in childbirth is estimated at 1400 per 100,000. It is one of 14 countries in the world with a maternal mortality rate of more than a thousand. By contrast Ireland has a maternal mortality rate of 1 per 100,000 (Unicef,2009).
• Only 9 in a hundred thousand women make it to a hospital to give birth and only 33 in a hundred thousand have a person with any birthing skills present for their deliveries (Unicef, 2009.)
• Keysaney and MedinaHospitals have treated more than 2,500 war casualties since January 2008.
• The ICRC has been providing humanitarian assistance to the Somali population since 1977 working in close partnership with the Somali Red Crescent Society.

LIBERIA - story

In Liberia, a peace agreement was signed in 2003 and rebuilding is underway. But 14 years of conflict has left the country with a looted and destroyed health system.

The ICRC helped treat the wounded during the war and in the aftermath supports a broad programme to restore basic health services in areas of the country worst affected by the conflict. Part of that strategy is the reduction of the maternal mortality rate - estimated at 1200 in a hundred thousand (2005, latest UN statistics).

In a joint initiative with the Liberian Ministry of Health, the ICRC is training traditional birth attendants to achieve clean, safe deliveries and to refer women with problems to hospital quickly.

Eunice Ekenko, an ICRC health worker in Liberia confirms the need for this assistance, "we don’t have enough skilled staff which is because of the war. After the war most of the skilled staff fled away."

Beneta Kessely is a midwife trainer for the ICRC. She explains the role of the traditional birth attendants who come from and work with their own local communities: "Because they are already doing the work, we just need to improve their skills so they can do even better. And they have proved to be that way."

Before this programme, many traditional birth attendants had no formal training. With emphasis on the need for prompt referral to a health facility in the event of any problem, the women learn how to give immediate care to the mother and her newborn as well as the importance of nutrition, vaccination, malaria prophylaxis, family planning and hygiene.

It will take time to measure the full impact of the training, but the traditional birth attendants themselves believe it is helping the women in their communities. Sonnie Lombeh has completed the course and has taken her new-found skills back to her village: " I am already happy for the training that they have given us. Those things that we did not know, now I know them, I am happy."

Additional information:

• The number of Liberian women dying in childbirth is estimated at 1,200 per one hundred thousand – one of the worst maternal mortality rates in the world (UN statistics).
• An estimated 37 women in a hundred thousand give birth in a hospital and only 51 in a hundred thousand have a skilled attendant present for delivery (UN statistics).
• By September 2008, the ICRC in partnership with the Liberian Health Ministry had successfully trained almost 300 traditional midwives. During their six month training course the midwives develop their skills in antenatal care, deliveries, post partum and new-born care.
• The ICRC has been active in Liberia since the onset of the first war in 1990 – providing emergency care and now in the reconstruction phase, assisting with the reconstruction of facilities and the training of staff.

Rebuilding Gaza – No Progress Without Lasting Peace

As Egypt prepares to host an international conference in Sharm el-Sheikh (starting 2 March) the ICRC warns that emergency aid and reconstruction will not be enough to resolve the crisis in Gaza unless there is a prospect of a lasting peace.

More than a month after the end of the conflict, tens of thousands have had their homes partially or completely destroyed and thousands still remain without access to water. The damage from the January conflict comes on top of Israeli restrictions on the movement of goods and people into Gaza. Most materials essential for rebuilding and restoring the economy are unavailable. In turn, the numbers of people in Gaza without jobs and a regular income has risen sharply. Poverty rates already stood at 70 percent before the conflict, and many are now left struggling to cover basic costs.

What is needed, the ICRC says, is sustainable economic development. Emergency assistance will not suffice. Gazans need machinery and spare parts. As a first step, the ICRC is calling for an end to Gaza's isolation, and a lifting of restrictions on the movement of people and goods.

Story

Since the conflict ended five weeks ago, normal life is starting to return in the Gaza Strip. The schools have reopened, the debris is being cleared away and some supplies are again available for sale in the shops and markets.

But the damage from the bombings has wiped out much of the industrial sector of the Gazan economy. Amr Hamad, the Executive Manager of the Palestinian Federation of Industries says the latest conflict "left more than 270 industrial establishments totally or partially damaged." According to Hamad, more than 35 thousand employees have lost their jobs in the industrial sector, but despite this, he remains optimistic for the future: "We assure everybody if the borders are opened, in one year we can again rebuild the whole of the Gaza Strip."

Tayseer Abu Eida, owned a concrete factory which it is estimated will cost around 15 million dollars to rebuild. Most of the 100 people who worked there are now unemployed.

In GazaCity, the shops are again open for business but there are still shortages and prices for basics have sky-rocketed. Oussama Boustan managed to open his supermarket for brief periods during the war even though there was very little for sale. But now the conflict is over, Boustan says, " the crossings should be open to the outside world so that we could have cement and steel brought in, jobs could be found and then there would be work."

Salah Ahmed Saleh is a pharmacist. He has five children and until the January conflict lived in a house with 14 members of his family. His home was destroyed during the conflict and he wonders if it will ever be possible to resume a normal life.

"Our situation goes from bad to worse," he says. "There is an embargo. The ingredients of a good life do not exist either for an individual, a child or a family."