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Georgia/Russian Federation: ICRC shifts focus to long-term recovery

03-09-2008 Operational Update

The ICRC continues to expand its support to the elderly and displaced in Georgia in a security situation that remains volatile owing to the presence of a large number of weapons and firearms. A substantial number of people are on the move, attempting to return home.

   
  ©ICRC/J. Barry/ge-e-00346    
 
  A village outside Gori. ICRC staff talking to villagers anxious for news about loved ones who fled from home.    
     

   
  ©ICRC/J. Barry/ge-e-00345    
 
  A village north of Gori. Residents receiving health care courtesy of the Norwegian Red Cross, the local authorities and the ICRC.    
     

   
  ©ICRC/J. Barry/ge-e-00345    
 
  A village outside Gori. A Norwegian Red Cross doctor attending to an elderly patient.    
      
  Overview  

    

In total so far, the ICRC has provided essential household items to over 14,300 people affected by the conflict, including more than 12,200 displaced and almost 900 residents in Georgia, as well around 1,170 displaced people, who fled from South Ossetia to the Russian Federation.

The organization has provided food to almost 12,300 individuals affected by the conflict in total, including around 9,300 displaced persons and 3,000 residents in Georgia.

The ICRC continues to receive tracing requests from people whose relatives are unaccounted for, as well as separated families who want to be reunited or exchange news with their loved ones. A number of tracing requests are from worried relatives of people who want to leave their area because they feel unsafe – this is a matter of considerable concern to the ICRC. Restoring family links remains a top priority for the ICRC. The organization also continues to stand ready to facilitate the recovery, transfer and hand-over of mortal remains to families.

The ICRC remains concerned about elderly and chronically ill people in isolated villages in all areas affected by the fighting. We are actively working to reach out to these villages with healthcare and assistance, including food and non-food items.

The security situation is still volatile in many areas due to the presence of a large number of weapons and firearms. A substantial number of people, trying to return home, are on the move. Until people are resettled it is impossible t o have a clear number of how many families remain displaced in total by the fighting or how many have gone home.

The ICRC is also looking ahead to the longer-term needs of tens of thousands of displaced people, who face a long road ahead as many may not be able to return home due to the tensions or because their houses were destroyed. Some people may not be able to repair their homes in time for winter and will need further assistance to make it through the coming months. Experience drawn from supporting displaced people from the previous conflict over the past 16 years indicates needs for micro-economic and agricultural initiatives as well as rehabilitation of collective centres.

 
Georgia 
 
Tbilisi delegation / Gori office 
 

The ICRC's mobile health unit began visiting isolated villages near Gori on 27 August. They were able to see 82 mainly elderly patients on the first day, who are suffering from various health problems including body pain, trauma and chronic illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease. The team is made up of four Red Cross staff, including members of the Norwegian Red Cross, plus counterparts from the Georgian Ministry of Health. They also went out to the field on 28 and 29 August. They are equipped with basic health care and first aid materials.

The team aims to return to visit those who are bedridden and very sick to provide more care. Jessica Barry, of the ICRC's Tbilisi delegation, says: " There was a general sense of relief among the people we visited to know that someone is reaching out to them and cares about their health. They were afraid of being forgotten and they seemed glad to know that we're there for them. "

The focus of the humanitarian operation for the displaced in Georgia continues to shift from Tbilisi to Gori, as more and more people return home. Those people whose homes were destroyed or who are unable to reach their villages have moved from collective centres in Tbilisi to new collective centres in Gori, so the ICRC is continuing to evaluate the needs, including water and sanitation, assistance and health, of the newly displaced.

The establishment of a permanent ICRC office in Gori, made up of 17 people, has enabled teams to reach out to more isolated villages north of Gori. The Gori office includes specialists in the areas of water and habitat, health, economic security and a mine expert to assess the risk of unexploded ordnance. Distribution of food and non-food items in villages north of Gori took place this week.

In Tbilisi, people who are reluctant to go back to their homes are moving out of the schools and into bigger collective centre buildings. The ICRC continues to monitor their needs and provide assistance as required.

So far, the ICRC has helped displaced people at 45 collective shelter centres in Georgia.

The ICRC has provided assistance to four hospitals and one clinic in the towns and villages of Gori, Kutaisi, Senaki and Kareli.

 
Western Georgia / Zugdidi office 
 

The ICRC visited five villages along the Enguri River, particularly Ganmukhuri and Khurcha, this week. It's estimated that around 800 mainly elderly people remain in the area. The ICRC delivered food and non-food items to people in Khurcha. It was the first humanitarian organization to visit residents there since the conflict began.

When the ICRC arrived in Ganmukhuri, the village looked empty but soon groups of elderly people gathered around. They said half the village had left, mainly younger men and women, and children. A lack of public transportation is preventing them from buying basic items such as bread, oil and salt. The few shops in the village were closed. Water and electricity are provided by Abkhazia. The ICRC team based in Zugdidi plans to keep visiting the villages on a regular basis in the coming days and deliver more assistance.

 
Abkhazia / Sukhumi office 
 

The ICRC has an office in Sukhumi and continues to keep a close eye on the situation of people in the area. It is monitoring for further displacement and helping the resident population in the Kodori Valley, where the organization is preparing to distribute food and non-food items, such as blankets and soap, to 200 families over the next two weeks.

 
South Ossetia / Tskhinvali office 
 

85 of the 89 detainees registered and visited by the ICRC in Tskhinvali on 23 and 24 August were transferred by the de facto South Ossetian authorities to the Georgian authorities on 27 August. Gaining access to people detained or arrested in connection with the conflict has been a main priority for the ICRC since the beginning of the fighting.

On 26 August, the ICRC's team in Tskhinvali was able to visit a few villages outside of the city. The team observed that some villages they saw from the road were severely damaged, while others were much less affected. The field visit was cut short due to security concerns, after people began shooting in the air following the recognition of independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia by the Russian Federation. Therefore the team was only able to spend a couple of hours in the field before returning to the ICRC office in Tskhinvali. Field visits outside of Tskhinvali were postponed until the security situation improves.

While there is a lot of reconstruction required in Tskhinvali, the emergency needs of the town’s population are being met by the local authorities, who have taken full charge of the situation. Tskhinvali's main hospital, which was damaged during the fighting, is functioning. It is receiving support from the Russian Federation's emergency agency, Emercom. One of the biggest challenges facing the hospital at present is the need for sterile materials, since staff were unable to sterilize equipment and linens due to a lack of water and electricity during the fighting.

The ICRC plans to help improve the hospital’s water and sanitation system and provide generators to deal with power outages. Upon the request of the health authorities, the ICRC provided 500 sets of surgical materials to the hospital’s maternity ward, which will cover its needs for a year. In addition, the organization is assisting the hospital in the safe disposal of medical waste. 

The ICRC's office in Tskhinvali continues to meet with groups of people who have lost contact with their families or have no news of their loved ones. Some people are eager to send Red Cross messages to their loved ones who fled the fighting, while others have had no contact with their relatives at all and are desperately trying to establish the whereabouts of their missing family members.

The ICRC has been present and working in South Ossetia for over two weeks. It focuses on protection issues, such as restoring contact between family members who are without news of their relatives in South Ossetia, and helping those isolated by fighting.

The ICRC team of about 20 delegates and national staff visits isolated villages outside of Tskhinvali, where the humanitarian situation remains fragile. The organization is assessing the needs of vulnerable people and stands ready to step in and assist them, as required.

The ICRC remains ready to support the authorities in efforts to ensure that human remains are properly identified, and where possible help to bring them back to their families.

 
Russian Federation Southern District 
 

Since the beginning of the crisis, the ICRC and the Russian Red Cross have provided essential household items, including blankets, clothes, diapers and soap to around 1,170 people in North Ossetia and Kabardino-Balkaria in the Russian Federation.

The ICRC has visited 11 collective centres in North Ossetia, housing people who were forced to flee their homes. Assistance, including war-wounded kits, were also provided to five health centres. Assistance was distributed in two collective centres in Kabardino-Balkaria and an assessment mission was carried out in Daghestan.

The ICRC continues to see a growing number of people leaving the Russian Federation to return to Tskhinvali and other parts of South Ossetia. Recent ICRC and Russian Red Cross visits to five collective centres in North Ossetia showed that the number of displaced people is decreasing on a daily basis and that some centres are closing.

 
National Society Activities 
 

In accordance with the Seville Agreement and Supplementary Measures, the ICRC has been leading the Movement's humanitarian response to the armed conflict, in consultation and cooperation with the National Societies of the affected countries, other National Societies and the International Federation.

Volunteers from the Georgian Red Cross (GRCS) are continuing to provide food and non-food items to displaced people in collective centres. Last week, the GRCS organized a distribution of 74 parcels to a collective centre in Tbilisi. The parcels contained sugar, soup, salt, oil, concentrated milk, tea, handkerchiefs and other items. The GRCS has also been helping with assessments and local fundraising. On 26 and 27 August, about 20 volunteers from the GRCS were involved in a mine risk education training session. They have since visited 112 collective centres and distributed 7,000 ‘mine risk’ awareness leaflets among displaced people.

In the Russian Federation, the ICRC has been working with the North Ossetian and Kabardino-Balkaria branches of the Russian Red Cross to bring emergency relief, including food, blankets, soap and cooking pots, to people displaced by the fighting in South Ossetia. Russian Red Cross staff and volunteers also helped register displaced persons and evaluate their needs at a dozen collective centres during joint assessments with the ICRC. The North Ossetian Red Cross has also been providing psychological and emotional support for the displaced, including games for children. This programme was supported by the International Federation.

Members from the Norwegian Red Cross field hospital team are taking part in the mobile health unit operating out of Gori. (See mention above.) The Norwegian team, which was deployed within days of the start of the conflict, has provided valuable support to ICRC operations on various levels, including medical visits and economic security/assistance.

The Swiss Red Cross is supporting the ICRC in Georgia by trucking relief goods from Turkey to Georgia, including 1,500 mattresses, which were distributed in eight collective centres.

The Turkish Red Crescent Society (TRCS) has delivered food parcels for 1,000 households to Gori. The TRCS coordinates its support with Movement partners in Tbilisi an d the distribution was carried out in cooperation with the Georgian Red Cross and the authorities.

In consultation with the ICRC and in support of the Georgian Red Cross, the Italian Red Cross has set up two soup kitchens at Tbilisi's largest centres for the displaced, which can provide food for up to 5,000 people. Two additional soup kitchens arrived in Gori on 28 August.