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...

CENTRAL/EASTERN EUROPE: Parts of Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Serbia, Romania and Russia have been gripped by wind, heavy snow and temperatures as low as -26°F. Over 80 people have died from hypothermia and frostbite, and the chill has caused power outages, traffic chaos and the closure of schools and nurseries. Red Cross Societies have been working around the clock to meet the basic needs of the affected people with hot meals, warm clothing and blankets.

MEXICO: Drug related violence in the Mexican city of Ciudad Juárez (on the US border) has put health care in danger, risking the lives of medical staff and often preventing patients from getting the treatment they need. The ICRC has been working with the Mexican Red Cross on improving safety for their volunteers and staff, developing a specific protocol to respond to emergencies by confirming that police are at the scene, the victim is alive and needs pre-hospital care.

FIJI: Severe flooding and landslides caused by heavy rains on Fiji’s largest island of Viti Levu have forced thousands from their homes to seek safety in evacuation centers. Staff and volunteers of the Fiji Red Cross Society have been responding to the immediate needs of many of those displaced and has started distributing emergency relief items to over 3,000 people in 74 evacuation centers and communities isolated by the floods.

IRAQ: The new Nasiriya physical rehabilitation center opened this week and will be capable of treating 500 patients a year, providing them with artificial limbs and rehabilitation services. The ICRC has built the center in coordination with Iraqi health authorities, and it is the second physical rehabilitation center built by ICRC water and sanitation engineers in Iraq following completion of the Falluja center in 2008. 35,000 people with a disability have benefited from ICRC-supported physical rehabilitation services in Iraq since 1993.


GLOSSARY:

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

Observe World AIDS Day

Today is World AIDS Day. Take a moment to remember that someone becomes infected with HIV every 12 seconds, about half of them under age 25. Every 16 seconds someone dies from AIDS-related causes. Thirty-one years into the epidemic, more than 34 million people around the world are living with HIV and many of these people are not aware they are infected.

Here in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just released a new report showing that "only one in four Americans with AIDS has the virus under control."

The American Red Cross has been a key player in the fight against HIV globally for almost a decade and we continue to support comprehensive HIV prevention programs that reach people with the highest risk of contracting the disease in Kenya, Tanzania, Vietnam, China, Guyana, Bahamas, Jamaica, Haiti, Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. A large part of our work focuses on building the capacity of our sister Red Cross societies. We help them better target the services, as they help communities cope with the shock and stresses of the disaster that is the ongoing HIV epidemic. For more information, visit www.redcross.org/international

Please also check out this fact sheet on specific ways we're involved in the fight: http://www.redcross.org/www-files/Documents/International%20Services/Fact_Sheet_HIVAIDS.pdf

Graphic courtesy of globalministries.org

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...

KENYA: The ICRC has setup phone service in Dadaab, for the many thousands of refugees fleeing the conflict and drought in Somalia. This allows refugees the opportunity to make a phone call to an immediate family member or other close relative anywhere in the world. More than 7,200 have taken advantage of the service.

LIBYA: Over the past week the ICRC has been providing medical supplies along the front lines of four disputed areas. The supplies are being staged for use at hospitals to help increase their capacities and capabilities. Additionally, continued support is being made available to those displaced by the ongoing conflict.

YEMEN: The ICRC is currently monitoring the situation in the capital of Sana’a, where a ceasefire has been agreed upon for the conflict between Government forces and protestors.

HUNGARY: Earlier this week the IFRC and the United Nations Volunteers program co-hosted more than 200 volunteer organizations from across the world in adopting a Declaration determined to value, recognize and encourage volunteering’s contribution to people, their communities and our planet.

RUSSIA: The IFRC is delivering immediate assistance in the Russian Federation to 1,800 families in the Krasnodarskiy Kray (region) and the Republic of Adygeya, in response to flooding caused by heavy rains.


GLOSSARY:

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