Georgia/Jordan: ICRC flies in humanitarian aid
14-08-2008 News Release 08/149
Amman (ICRC) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is flying humanitarian supplies from Jordan to Georgia to help victims of the recent fighting between Georgia and Russia.
The first of five chartered aircraft left Amman today. The flights will transport 5,000 parcels of food and other items, weighing a total of 430 tonnes, to Tbilisi to be distributed by the ICRC to 5,000 families (some 25,000 people) affected by the conflict.
The ICRC has been present in Jordan since 1967. It has a regional logistics base there that it uses to support its operations in neighbouring countries such as Iraq, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Yemen and Lebanon. The organization's head of delegation in Amman, Paul Castella, said that the operation had been organized at very short notice. " This airlift show's the ICRC's ability to provide emergency aid to all victims of all conflicts. It also confirms Jordan, and specifically Amman, as a key logistics base for humanitarian action in the region and beyond " .
For further information, please contact:Ruba Afani, ICRC Amman, tel: +962 6 460 4300 or +962 777398774