Welcome to the Weekly Worldwide 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…

RWANDA: Recent heavy rain in Rwanda has led to flooding that has
affected water supplies and damaged roads, schools, clinics and over
700 homes. The Rwandan Red Cross Society is currently assisting displaced people in flood-affected areas of the country
by distributing relief items to 300 households, offering psychosocial
support, assisting communities to recover bodies, and tracing displaced
children.

PAKISTAN: This past weekend ICRC received confirmation that staff member Khalil Rasjed Dale, a 60-year-old health-program manager in Pakistan, was murdered almost four months after his kidnapping. He was abducted by unidentified armed men on January 5th. Khalil worked for the ICRC and the British Red Cross for many years, carrying out assignments in Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq.

UKRAINE: Last week marked the 22 year anniversary of the nuclear explosion near Chernobyl in northern Ukraine, which affected over 8 million people across Ukraine, Belarus and parts of Russia. Since 1990, the Red Cross Societies of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, in concert with the IFRC, have run the Chernobyl Humanitarian Assistance and Rehabilitation Program. The main focus of the project remains thyroid cancer screening for people who were under 40 years old at the time of the nuclear accident. In 2011 alone, 115,072 patients were screened as part of the program with diagnosis of thyroid cancer confirmed in 186 patients.

SAUDI ARABIA: This week the Saudi Red Crescent Authority donated
one million dollars as a contribution to the IFRC Digital Divide
initiative. The initiative is designed to build a technologically integrated Red Cross Red Crescent community
that better serves humanitarian needs. The Red Crescent is the primary
organization through which the Saudi government channels its
humanitarian assistance.

 
GLOSSARY:

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

PHOTO:
The Rwandan Red Cross Society sending out volunteers to flood affected areas to help rescue and support thousands of people.