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…

SYRIA: The ICRC and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent have provided aid since the first weeks of the violence to assist people in affected areas such as Idlib, Homs, Dera’a, Deir-Ez-Zor, Al-Bukamal, Rural Damascus governorate, Hama and Latakia. The ICRC continues to assess developments as violence continues.

NORTH KOREA: Thousands of survivors of severe floods in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) are still seriously in need of food and proper shelter. An emergency appeal launched in August by the IFRC has targeted 6,000 families for emergency food distribution over a period of two months and 1,000 of the most vulnerable survivor families for construction materials to rebuild their homes in a more durable way to resist potential future flooding.

LIBYA: The ICRC and the Libyan Red Crescent have just launched a three-week radio campaign to raise awareness of the risks of explosive remnants of war among the population. The heavy fighting that took place until last month in Sirte and Bani Walid left the two cities seriously contaminated by such devices. In addition, the ICRC and the Libyan Red Crescent have delivered food and other relief items to over 10,000 people returning to Sirte.

SOMALIA: Following an influx of refugees fleeing Somalia into Dadaab Camp, the Kenya Red Cross Society, working with the ICRC, has stepped up its “restoring family links” services, allowing newly-arrived refugees to call their relatives with news.

GLOSSARY:

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