Worldwide Wednesday Wrap-Up

Welcome to the Worldwide Wednesday Wrap-Up, in which we consolidate the international Red Cross and Red Crescent news into one list of bite-sized links for you. It’s a non-comprehensive sampling of the larger and/or more intriguing aspects of our global work…

[The place names link to maps so that you can get a quick idea of the region.]

HAITI: Last weekend marked a few big milestones in the relief efforts. 1. The Haitian National Red Cross Society resumed blood donation sessions in the quake zone. 2. Red Crossers from around the world helped provide 5,000 vulnerable families with tarps and rope in the largest Red Cross relief distribution since the quake. (See to-date activities of IFRC, ICRC, and American Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti. You can also follow Red Crosser Mat Morgan tweeting from on the ground.)

MONGOLIA: Extreme cold and snow storms this winter have destroyed thousands of families’ livestock and livelihoods. The Mongolian Red Cross Society are providing some 1,200 households in the five worst-hit provinces with emergency food supplies including rice, flour, cooking oil, salt, tea and sugar, and other aid including warm clothing and felt boots, and psychosocial support.
YEMEN: Almost six months after the latest round of fighting erupted in the north of Yemen, tens of thousands of people, displaced and residents alike, remain dependent on humanitarian assistance provided by the ICRC and the Yemen Red Crescent Society.
UGANDA: The ICRC is distributing seeds to 58,000 farmers in northern Uganda who have returned home after being displaced years ago by the fighting.
MYANMAR: Almost two years after Cyclone Nargis, the Ayeyarwady delta is gradually recovering. Major challenges remain and survivors are still struggling, but the recovery operation is well underway and some of the new innovative approaches used can now serve as examples for other operations.


WORLDWIDE: What’s it like to live in the midst of armed conflict? The ICRC conducted a public opinion survey in Afghanistan, Colombia, Georgia, Haiti, Liberia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lebanon and the Philippines to capture the experiences and opinions of civilians who are living with the everyday reality of armed conflict.

On a similar note, the Australian Red Cross just released a new interactive campaign to educate the public about the laws of war.

GLOSSARY:
ICRC = International Committee of the Red Cross
IFRC = International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies