| 07 Août 2013
AFRICA
South Sudan: An operational update on the ICRC's activities in Jonglei and an accompanying photo gallery were published on 2 August. The update describes how the ICRC has responded to new outbreaks of intercommunal violence, for example by sending a third surgical team to Dorein, in addition to the teams stationed in Bor and Malakal hospitals.
Burundi: Meet four demobilized soldiers who are paraplegics and trying to learn how to stand again. A new video to be posted on www.icrc.org will offer a glimpse of their world and the work of ICRC physiotherapists in Burundi.
MIDDLE EAST
Iraq: An updated interactive map of our activities in Iraq will be posted on www.icrc.org alongside a photo gallery on a food distribution for Syrian refugees in Al Qaim. In addition, teachers, law students and security officers will explain in a series of interviews how the training they received from the ICRC on international humanitarian law is having a positive impact on their work. Also in Iraq, tens of thousands of people are still missing in connection with the various conflicts that have hit the country in the past three decades. A news release, to be posted on www.icrc.org, will shed light on the suffering of the families and on the work the ICRC is doing to help determine what happened to those who have gone missing.
Israel/occupied territories: Ex-detainees from Hebron, Tulkarem and Nablus will tell us in video interviews about their experience with ICRC work in places of detention. The video clip will be posted on www.icrc.org.
Jordan: The ICRC and the Jordan National Red Crescent Society will distribute food parcels and hygiene items to 20,000 Syrian refugee and local host families in Jordan. More on that to be posted on www.icrc.org. On the International Day of the Disappeared, the family of a Jordanian national who went missing will share their suffering and their hope of having news of their loved one soon.
Lebanon: Thousands of Lebanese families are still waiting to know what happened to their relatives who went missing during the war. On the International Day of the Disappeared, the families and the ICRC will gather across the country to raise awareness among the general public and the authorities of the fact that the issue of missing people is not settled, and that the families are still waiting for news.
After two years in Beirut, Jürg Montani, the outgoing head of the ICRC delegation, will meet the media to give an overview of our operations in the country and explain our priorities, especially with regard to pressing humanitarian issues such as the Syrian refugee crisis.
Syria: Updates on the humanitarian situation and our activities are available regularly on www.icrc.org and on Twitter @icrc or @dibehfakhr.
Yemen: Despite a very challenging security environment, our staff throughout Yemen remain committed to bringing aid to civilians in need. An update on our operations in the country will be posted on www.icrc.org. In Aden, the ICRC is organizing a seminar on war surgery for Yemeni surgeons. A news release will provide more details.
ASIA
Nepal: Over 1,300 people went missing during Nepal's 10-year-long armed conflict. Since 1999, the ICRC and the Nepal Red Cross Society have maintained regular contact with the families of missing persons across the country and encouraged the former parties to the conflict to account for those who went missing. The ICRC and the Nepal Red Cross will release an updated list of missing persons on 30 August, the International Day of the Disappeared, in Kathmandu.
Philippines: Seven months after Typhoon Bopha devastated certain areas of Eastern Mindanao, stricken families in Compostela Valley – a province also affected by conflict – still need help to recover. To support them in their efforts to start anew, the ICRC, working with the Philippine Red Cross, has started cash-for-work programmes providing shelter and upgrading water systems and rural health facilities. Find out more about the Red Cross' continuing work in typhoon-affected areas in a web clip to be posted on www.icrc.org in early August.
Philippines: Winners of the 2013 Red Cross Award for Humanitarian Reporting, a nationwide media competition that aims to highlight responsible reporting of humanitarian consequences of conflict, will be announced on 27 August as part of International Humanitarian Law Month in the Philippines. A news release and Facebook photo gallery on this year's competition will be published after the awarding ceremony is held.
Afghanistan: An operational update and a video on the ICRC's physical rehabilitation work have been posted on www.icrc.org.
OTHER TOPICS
World Humanitarian Day: This year as every year, major humanitarian challenges will be shared with the general public on World Humanitarian Day, 19 August. Together with the European Commission and with the support of the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO), the ICRC is bringing out the message that violence against health-care workers must end. An op-ed piece signed jointly by the ICRC president and the European commissioner for international cooperation, humanitarian aid and crisis response will be printed in various European newspapers. Throughout August, the ICRC is holding an outdoor exhibition in Geneva on the dangers facing health-care services in armed conflict and other situations of violence.
International Day of the Disappeared: Every year, hundreds of thousands of people are separated from loved ones by armed conflict or other crises. The families of these missing are desperate for information, but their needs go far beyond this and can involve legal, financial and psychosocial issues. To mark the International Day of the Disappeared, 30 August, the ICRC is calling for a better and broader response to the needs of these families. It is also unveiling a new publication, "Accompanying the Families of Missing Persons: A Practical Handbook," to help those both inside and outside the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement who work to help the families of the missing. Last October the ICRC launched a new website, familylinks.icrc.org, to help people find missing relatives. In the days leading up to 30 August, the ICRC will be issuing a news release and video clips, and mounting a Facebook campaign.
