| 04 Octobre 2013
AFRICA
Niger: An overview of the ICRC's activities in the Diffa area, in the south-eastern part of the country near the Nigerian border, will be published on www.icrc.org.
Mali: An overview of the ICRC's efforts to restore and maintain contact between family members who have been separated from one another as a result of armed conflict will be published on www.icrc.org.
Côte d’Ivoire: Interviews on the ICRC’s work in places of detention will be published on www.icrc.org.
Guinea: Photo galleries portraying the work of the Red Cross Society of Guinea during the last upsurge in violence in the town of Nzérékoré, in the southern part of the country, and the ICRC's efforts to provide better access to clean water for people in both rural and urban areas will be will be published on www.icrc.org and on the ICRC’s Facebook page.
Senegal: The sixth issue of the magazine of the ICRC delegation in Dakar, "Mag Humanitaire," will be devoted to the 150th anniversary of the ICRC. The issue will feature various achievements of the ICRC in Africa and also some of the challenges it has faced there. Among the topics covered will be the ICRC's detainee-welfare work in Madagascar, the fate of war amputees in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the challenges of maintaining access to water in war-torn areas, alongside a historical overview of the ICRC’s activities during the Biafra war. The magazine will be available in both French and English on www.icrc.org.
MIDDLE EAST
Syria: In a video interview, Magne Barth, the head of the ICRC delegation in Damascus, talks about his recent trip to central Syria (Homs, Hama, Rastan) and calls for better access to victims. Read also the operational update highlighting the problems of missing and detained persons. An interactive map summarizes the ICRC’s work in Syria for the period between January and August 2013. Photo gallery: in Iraq, the ICRC and the Iraqi Red Crescent are helping Syrian refugees get back in touch with their loved ones. An overview of activities carried out in cooperation with the Jordanian National Red Crescent Society for Syrian refugees in Jordan will be available on www.icrc.org in early October. Updates on the humanitarian situation and ICRC activities in Syria are regularly posted on www.icrc.org and on Twitter @icrc.
Israel/occupied territories: A video clip telling the story of Myriam, a blind woman who overcomes numerous obstacles to continue with her daily life, will be posted on www.icrc.org, with accompanying social media posts on Facebook and twitter.
ASIA
India: A regional conference of senior editors on "Violence and conflict reporting: the media debates its role" will take place in New Delhi from 8 to 9 October. Senior journalists from Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia will participate. A news release, a photo gallery and a feature will be published on www.icrc.org.
The ninth edition of the regional Henri Dunant moot-court competition for South Asia will be held in New Delhi on 19 and 20 October 2013. Teams from India, Sri Lanka, Iran, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh will participate. A news release, a photo gallery and a feature will be published on www.icrc.org.
Afghanistan: A photo gallery and an update on the humanitarian situation and our activities will be available on www.icrc.org and distributed to the media.
OTHER TOPICS
The Senior Workshop on International Rules Governing Military Operations (SWIRMO) will take place in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, from 7 to 11 October. A Q&A and a feature have been published on the ICRC website. A news release will be issued on 4 October and items will be posted on Facebook and Twitter.
World Food Day, 16 October. An interview with one of the ICRC’s nutritionists highlighting the problem of malnutrition in conflict areas, particularly in the Horn of Africa, will be posted on www.icrc.org.
150th anniversary of humanitarian action: In a video interview to be posted on www.icrc.org by the end of October, ICRC historian Daniel Palmieri speaks about the founding conference of what was to become the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, which took place in Geneva from 26 to 29 October 1863. Sixteen States and four philanthropic institutions were represented. The conference led to the development of international humanitarian law and the original Geneva Convention. The red cross emblem was chosen at that time. New documents will also be available in the archive room: www.icrcvideonewsroom.org/icrc150/content/index.asp.
Restoring family links: On 31 October, the ICRC will launch the French and Spanish versions of the familylinks.icrc.org website, which is dedicated to restoring contact between family members separated by armed conflict, natural disasters or migration. The English-language site has been operational for one year now and an Arabic version is also planned.
