The families of missing persons don’t just live with the constant uncertainty of whether their loved ones are dead or alive, but they also face multiple challenges on all fronts. To make their lives a tad easier financially, the ICRC provides families of missing people in Sri Lanka with tailormade livelihood programmes, helping them with essential skills to run small businesses.
C BURAIN
In Siwai, Bougainville, families of those who went missing during the Bougainville crisis honour the memory of their loved ones at a monument build with ICRC support. Memorials can help families cope with the ambiguous loss associated with missing relatives and provide them with the much-needed community support.
Mu EDRIS/ICRC
Given the dangers of landmines and unexploded ordnance, awareness and education go a long way in Myanmar. Here, children in the Rakhine state go through leaflets during an information session organized by the ICRC and the Myanmar Red Cross Society.
Even after 40 years, over 100 people in Trat and Chanthaburi provinces, the two south-eastern corners of Thailand, still bear the scars of the conflict and violence in neighbouring countries that they had no involvement in. They continue to suffer the consequences of weapon contamination and draw on extraordinary will and determination to overcome these challenges.
Ryan ANG/ICRC
An ICRC engineer discusses the construction plan with skilled community workers during a cash-for-work programme to build 30 toilets in a village in Bukidnon, the Philippines. Tapping into the local resources in the community, we carry out work to improve the sanitary conditions and access to potable water so that victims of armed conflict can live with dignity and improve their living conditions.
A COVID-19 vaccination drive in progress in a remote area of Timor-Leste. The vaccination programme, jointly organized by the ICRC and the East Timor Red Cross, supplemented government’s efforts to safeguard communities from the pandemic.
Supported by the ICRC’s regional delegation in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian Red Crescent conducts a session to increase schoolkids’ awareness about health and hygiene measures, at a school in Sabah.
Working in partnership with ENGAGE, a local NGO, the ICRC in Nepal donated 12 wheelchairs to basketball clubs to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. In various parts of the Asia-Pacific region, the ICRC supports wheelchair basketball to encourage social inclusion in sports and help build confidence among the players.
On the World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day on 8 May, colleagues from the ICRC East Asia regional delegation in Beijing successfully completed a 21-km walk while performing six tasks at an orienteering race organized by the Chinese Red Cross Foundation.
ICRC’s regional director for the Asia-Pacific Christine Cipolla records a podcast for the Diplomacy, Law & Policy Forum during her visit to Pakistan. The forum is a collaboration between the ICRC and the Research Society of International Law and has been established to address key concerns in the complementary and interdependent fields of law, policy and diplomacy.
NEC
In a bid to utilize Japanese technology to help solve humanitarian issues in conflict zones, the ICRC and NEC Corporation signed a memorandum of understanding during an online ceremony in June. NEC is one of the leading Japanese firm that provides innovative IT solutions in manufacturing, retail and services.
As we draw the curtains on yet another year marked by the pandemic, let's take a moment to soak in the little pockets of hope and respite from the Asia-Pacific region. Masked and keeping the hygiene guidelines in mind, our colleagues used every opportunity to connect with the communities we work with as well as fostered new partnerships and took the old associations many miles ahead.
