CHECHNYA LINKS LIBRARY

Humanitarian Action in the Northern Caucasus: January - December 2000

The hostilities that broke out in the autumn of 1999 in the Republic of Chechnya devastated the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. People were forced to flee from Chechnya, mostly to the Republic of Ingushetia. Much of the resident population in Chechnya lived in towns and cities badly damaged by several months of heavy bombardment. The humanitarian consequences of the hostilities affected the lives of some 330,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) and up to 690,000 residents in Chechnya and Ingushetia. The assistance needs of people were extreme.

Population figures for the republics of Chechnya and Ingushetia varied widely. Official estimates of the population in Ingushetia ranged from 475,000 (300,000 residents and 175,000 IDPs) to 580,000 (340,000 residents and 240,000 IDPs). For Chechnya it ranged from 350,000 to 800,000 (both residents and IDPs). It was difficult to determine the precise figures of people who had returned to Chechnya and those who had stayed in Ingushetia, as many were constantly moving back and forth to assess the extent to which it was possible to return to Chechnya. The UN had considered various sources of information on population figures, including government figures, Danish Refugee Council registrations, the 1989 official census, and several other factors, such as morbidity and birth rates, casualties, and estimated the following figures:

Population	Number
Residents in Ingushetia	320,000
IDPs in Ingushetia	160,000 – 180,000

Residents in Chechnya	350,000 – 370,000
IDPs in Chechnya	150,000 – 170,000

The Government of the Russian Federation was the main provider of humanitarian assistance in the region. The programmes included provision of food and non-food aid, financial resources and in-kind contributions. The government indicated that the Ministry of Emergencies (EMERCOM) was its focal point for coordination, as well as to conduct humanitarian activities in close cooperation with international community at large. Increasingly the government’s attention had moved from Ingushetia to Chechnya, and on 29 August the government adopted resolution No. 639 ‘On the complex of top-priority measures to ensure the normal functioning of the economic and social sphere of the Republic of Chechnya in 2000’. The Government had, however, requested supplementary assistance from the international community.

In the late autumn of 1999 the United Nations began to address the protection and assistance needs of affected population in the region, thereby complementing the emergency relief being provided by the Russian Government, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Concerted UN humanitarian action gained momentum with the launch of flash appeal (1 December 1999 - 29 February 2000), which was then developed and extended until 31 December 2000.

A serious deterioration in the humanitarian situation was quelled thanks to the timely response by the Russian authorities, the UN, ICRC, and NGOs. The most urgent needs in Ingushetia were met through the provision of food, shelter and relief items, health sector support and ensuring safe water and sanitary conditions. Assistance needs of the population in Chechnya remained largely unmet, although during the year the aid organisations had increased their operations in Chechnya. For example, the World Food Programme (WFP) provided food for 110,000 people in Chechnya in December, up from 31,000 in August.

The donor community strongly supported the humanitarian action in the northern Caucasus and provided US$ 84,609,332 to UN agencies, ICRC, and NGOs:

Donor	UN Agencies		ICRC, NGOs
Canada	2,390,942		340,136
Denmark	1,926,972		2,889,328
EC-ECHO	2,630,843		19,137,645
Germany	1,115,958		3,545,498
Netherlands	2,127,856		4,105,353
Norway	2,908,045		120,000
Sweden	1,055,101		2,915,614
Switzerland	1,882,398		1,454,688
UK	4,221,793		-
USA	17,284,091		3,000,000
Others*	7,848,265		1,709,606
Total	45,391,464		39,217,868
TOTAL UN/ICRC/NGOs		84,609,332

*Others include: Austria, Ireland, Cyprus (for NGOs only), Japan, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Turkey, Multilateral NGOs, Private Donors, UNICEF National.

The massive displacement of the population within Chechnya and from it to Ingushetia disrupted the people’s livelihood and means of access to food. In addition to IDPs, many local poor families in Ingushetia, and residents in Chechnya faced severe hardship. Ingushetia being an economically deprived country was unable to cope with the influx of some 200,000 IDPs. There were some 150,000 IDPs in Chechnya who lost many of their possessions and their houses. In addition, there were some 50,000 food-insecure resident vulnerable people in the republic that include elderly, handicapped, widows and children who were unable to flee their homes during the fighting. Food needs were particularly critical in Grozny. The household food economy assessment conducted by the WFP, in collaboration with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the People in Need Foundation (PINF), in September, revealed that the population in the city was generally underfed with an average energy intake below 2,100 kcal per day. The majority of households in Chechnya had exhausted their coping mechanisms and relied greatly on external assistance.

Emergency food assistance programmes of the government and the international community at large aimed to sustain livelihood and prevent hunger among displaced persons and vulnerable groups in the region. The government provided bread and hot meals for IDPs living in camps in Ingushetia, as and when funds were available. In Chechnya, the government partly met the food needs of IDPs by allocating 15 rubles (about US$ 4) per day per displaced person. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), together with the authorities, ICRC, and a variety of international NGOs initially assumed most of the responsibility for provision of food to IDPs and host family members in Ingushetia. Later, in February WFP replaced UNHCR as the primary supplier of basic foods to IDPs while UNHCR focused on the host families. Some 10,000 members of host families had received UNHCR food. Host families also received assistance from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Swiss Disaster Relief (SDR) that together with UNHCR provided compensation to host families who provided shelter to IDPs during the winter. WFP provided basic food commodities initially to 155,000 IDPs in Ingushetia, and based on the recommendations on the UN inter-agency needs assessment mission in May, the agency expanded its operation in Chechnya and increased the number of beneficiaries (IDPs and vulnerable residents) to an average 325,000 both in Chechnya and Ingushetia. The WFP partner NGOs, including the Centre for Peacemaking and Community Development (CPCD), Danish Refugee Council (DRC), Polish Humanitarian Organisations (PHO), and People in Need Foundation (PINF) distributed WFP food to IDPs and vulnerable groups in the most affected central districts of Chechnya. Those NGOs also carried out their own food programmes in various districts of Chechnya and Ingushetia. The ICRC supported IDPs in Ingushetia with food parcels and wheat flour, reaching between 45,000-55,000 persons every month. The ICRC covered almost all the displaced population in the republic on a three-month cycle basis. In Chechnya, the ICRC together with the Russian Red Cross (RRC) regularly provided food parcels and bread to about 15,200 people in urban centers of the republic. The ICRC also supported the bread and hot meal distribution programmes of the RRC in Ingushetia. In addition, various international NGOs, including Action Contre la Faim (ACF), Action by Churches Together/Hungarian Interchurch aid (ACT/HIA), Care Germany, Caritas, Benevolence International Foundation (BIF), Dorcas Aid, Help eV, Hilfswerk Austria, Islamic Relief (IR), Salvation Army (SA), and World Vision (WV) provided supplementary food to affected populations in the region. Together, the UN, ICRC, and NGOs provided 50,150.3 MTs of food to Chechnya and Ingushetia:

	Chechnya	Ingushetia	Total MTs
UNHCR	330.8	9,233.8	9,564.6
WFP	3,578.0	19,522.0	23,100.0
ICRC*	50.0	6,374.7	6,424.7
NGOs	7,886.0	3,175.0	11,061.0
Total	11,844.8	38,305.5	50,150.3

*Calculated on the basis of food parcels. Does not include dry food for bakeries.

The social and physical infrastructure in Ingushetia was overburdened by the presence of displaced people. Ingush host families housed about 70% of IDPs. The rest were accommodated in railway wagons, spontaneous settlements, and tent camps, and faced difficulties such as inadequate sanitary conditions and overcrowding. With the onset of winter, the shelter needs for displaced people became more critical. Many of the accommodations required upgrading to make them habitable.

IDPs in Ingushetia
Type of accommodation	Number
Tent camps	14,800
Spontaneous settlements	27,300
Host families	110,000
Railway wagons	7,900

According to assessments carried out by UN and NGOs in Chechnya, there were vast shelter needs in Grozny and other towns and villages in Chechnya that had suffered major destruction during the hostilities. One of the identified needs was to assist people with construction materials and tools enabling them to carry out repairs to their houses.

UNHCR and NGOs, such as DRC, Hilfswerk Austria, International Rescue Committee (IRC), IR, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), and PINF assisted IDPs in Ingushetia by undertaking maintenance of the existing tents and rehabilitating spontaneous settlements, providing emergency repair to communal structures in areas hosting IDPs, and ensuring that IDPs have access to non-food items. In order to provide alternative accommodation to some 12,000 IDPs staying in railway wagons and in the worst of the spontaneous settlements in Ingushetia, UNHCR, together with the Ingush EMERCOM, constructed a winterised tent camp in September that housed 4,000 out of 12,000 IDPs. The rest would be accommodated in the other two camps the construction of which started at the end of the year. UNHCR provided shelter materials for the winterization of some 65 spontaneous settlements. The displaced people in Ingushetia also received non-food items from UNHCR and UNICEF. Apart from this, UNHCR supported shelter activities in Chechnya by providing construction materials to central areas of the republic to enable target families to rehabilitate at least one room in which to stay during the winter. Throughout the year, the ICRC had provided non-food items and shelter materials to IDP camps in Ingushetia, and to schools, social institutions, and IDP centres in Chechnya. DRC winterized more than 40 spontaneous settlements in Ingushetia. In Chechnya, the assessed the level of destruction and needs in construction materials in the districts of Achkhoy-Martan, Shali, and Urus-Martan, and rehabilitated 1,000 partially destroyed houses there.

The consequences of the events in the region affected the health conditions of the population at large, with the most critical problems relating to maternal and pre-natal mortality, high risk of epidemics of infectious diseases, and high incidence of tuberculosis. Other health concerns related to poor feeding practices, anaemia, and iodine deficiency, particularly affecting pregnant and lactating women, and children under five, and physical and mental disability due to hostilities. The existing health care system in Ingushetia was overloaded, which significantly reduced the provision of effective health care services. In Chechnya, the few health facilities still operating lacked sufficient resources to provide health care services. There was an acute shortage of essential drugs, medical materials, and equipment in health facilities both in Chechnya and Ingushetia.

The efforts of the health authorities and the international organisations were aimed to reduce the most preventable causes of morbidity and mortality, and alleviate suffering of affected populations in the region. They set up medical care units, both stationary and mobile, to provide health care services to IDPs staying in camps and spontaneous settlements. Field TB hospital of ‘Zashchita’ All-Russian Centre for Medicine of Disasters in Nazran treated TB in-patients as well as monitored the situation with regard to TB in the IDP settlements. The World Health Organization (WHO) advised the authorities and the NGO community on priority health matters, disseminated health information, assisted local health care systems to strengthen epidemiological surveillance, as well as provided prosthetic assistance, medicines, medical supplies, and equipment. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) tackled aspects of training and capacity building in reproductive health. UNICEF, in collaboration with WHO, conducted an assessment study on cold-chain and safe injection practices in Ingushetia. In the framework of the expanded programme on immunisation and the mother and child health care programmes, UNICEF provided medical materials and equipment, as well as oral rehydration salts to health facilities in Ingushetia. The agency printed and distributed 200,000 vaccination cards to improve vaccination records among IDP populations in Chechnya and Ingushetia. UNICEF provided cold-chain equipment to MSF-Holland to be used in 24 health facilities in Chechnya where the NGO implemented medical assistance programme, as well as carried out minor repair works. The ICRC’s medicines and expendable materials enabled the hospitals in Ingushetia and Chechnya to treat 1,770 and 170 surgical patients respectively. In the two republics, the ICRC supported mobile medical teams and medical posts run by the Russian Red Cross. In addition, a variety of NGOs provided medical assistance in the region. Several NGOs, namely BIF, Hammer Forum, Hilfswerk Austria, International Medical Corps (IMC), IR, MSF-Belgium, ran mobile medical clinics staffed mainly with physicians and nurses that provided basic medical help to IDPs in camps and spontaneous settlements in Ingushetia. Medecins du Monde (MDM) provided primary health care and psychosocial rehabilitation in the IDP camps in Chechnya and Ingushetia, as well as drugs, surgical and medical supplies to 13 hospitals in Chechnya. In collaboration with local health structures, the aid agencies also worked on upgrading the professional skills of primary health care workers both in Chechnya and Ingushetia.

With the influx of IDPs to Ingushetia, the number of people in need of water increased by 50%. Water production in the republic was not sufficient even before the arrival of the IDPs. The UNHCR-WHO survey in December 1999 concluded that after food requirements, adequate water supply and improved sanitary conditions were the most urgent needs identified by IDPs. The need for safe water and sanitation facilities had been identified to be of high priority for residents and IDPs in Chechnya, as well. For example, in Grozny all water treatment and distribution stations had been damaged, and the quality of trucked water was poor.

The aid agencies undertook emergency measures by installing water bladders, constant trucking of clean water, constructing of latrines and bathing facilities, providing jerrycans and disinfectants, removing garbage, and improving the drainage system both in Chechnya and Ingushetia. UNHCR, UNICEF, in collaboration with NGOs, such as International Rescue Committee (IRC) and IR, winterised 55 water-bladders and 44 bathing facilities, and improved water points, taps, and pipes in camps and spontaneous settlements in Ingushetia. UNICEF distributed 24,000 jerrycans to IDP camps and spontaneous settlements in Ingushetia, and in Grozny, as well as provided disinfectant and water-testing portable laboratories to Sanitary and Epidemiological Service and partner NGOs in Chechnya and Ingushetia. UNICEF provided PHO a water purification unit to be installed at water pumping station 1 in Grozny, as well as 27 collapsible water bladders. Overall capacity of the units was 218 m³, of which 120m³ were distributed daily to sites in 20 medical facilities, 6 schools and 16 locations in the private sector. The ICRC rehabilitated the pumping station 1 enabling part of the population of Grozny to have access to clean water. In Ingushetia, the ICRC provided daily drinking water to about 35,000 IDPs at camps and spontaneous settlements, improved sanitary conditions and built 15 shower facilities there. In addition, several NGOs, including BIF, Hilfswerk Austria, MSF-Belgium, carried out water and sanitation activities by installing latrines and showers in the IDP camps and spontaneous settlements in Ingushetia.

The hostilities disrupted the education of IDP children in Ingushetia. The Ingush school system with its limited capacity was not able to handle the situation. According to the DRC-run registration, there were some 32,000 IDP children between 7-12 years of age in Ingushetia, and only less than 12,000 attended schools. Enrolment rates among the approximately 18,000 IDP children between 12-16 years of age were even lower. There were an estimated 120,000 children between the age of 6 and 16 living in Chechnya. Many schools were destroyed during the fighting. Overall, 287 schools out of 400 were operational to a certain extent.

UNICEF, UNHCR, and NGOs, such as Association for Aid and Relief (AAR), BIF, Care International, Caritas International, CPCD, Hilfswerk Austria, PHO, PINF, SA, worked to create the capacity for enrolment of all IDP children above the age two into educational programmes, decrease vulnerability of teenage IDPs by improving vocational and life skills, ensure the availability of safe recreational facilities to IDP children in Chechnya and Ingushetia, and utilise the school system to raise mine awareness among children. UNICEF had developed a database on the status of the schools in Chechnya that was being fed with information gathered by partner NGOs working in the republic. Throughout the year, UNICEF provided various education materials, including school-in-box kits for educational activities in Chechnya and ingushetia, stationary and textbooks for some 10,000 children enrolled in NGO-run schools in Ingushetia. The agreement signed between the Ingush Minister of Education and UNICEF allowed the IDP children to receive a certification of school enrolment. CPCD, with the support of War Child and with UNICEF educational materials, opened and ran the Omega school for about 1,250 IDP children from spontaneous settlements in Sleptsovskaya and the Severny camp. Some aid agencies conducted repair work in schools as well. PINF with the help of the parents reconstructed a school in Grozny for 1,500 children, when ACT/HIA focused on schools in the northern districts of Chechnya.

Almost all aid agencies that organised educational activities were also engaged in providing some form of a psychosocial support. The Chechen Association of Psychiatrists and Neurologists had carried out a research among 500 children and teenagers and found out that the number of stress disorders with IDP children in Chechnya was three times higher than with children from Ingushetia (87 % in Chechnya compared to 26 % in Ingushetia), and the number of children suffering from post-traumatic stress disorders was 58 % and 15 % respectively. CPCD provided a psychosocial assistance to IDP children both in Chechnya and Ingushetia, helping the children to develop inter-personal communication skills and to feel safe by running art and drama therapy activities and simulation games. UNICEF and UNHCR supported summer camp activities for 9,100 IDP children, and safe areas and recreational activities that were initiated in IDP camps in Ingushetia and in Grozny. Caritas, Hilfswerk Austria, and PHO organised activities for displaced pre-school aged children in Chechnya and Ingushetia.

The MSF-H assessment of 56 health facilities in Chechnya undertaken in March-April, revealed that 66% of the facilities had reported that mine injuries were among the main causes of mortality for people. In another assessment of 23 facilities undertaken by the NGO in August, 67% of hostility-related casualties in the republic were due to mines and unexploded ordnance injuries. Given the high threat of mines and unexploded ordnance in Chechnya, UNICEF, together with UNHCR, initiated a programme of action in August to promote mine awareness in the region. A mass mine awareness campaign began with the dissemination of 15,000 mine awareness posters and 20,000 leaflets among the IDP populations in Ingushetia and Chechnya. UNICEF, UNHCR, the Danish Demining Group (DDG), and a Chechen organisation ‘Voice of the Mountains’ jointly undertook training sessions for the government, UN, and NGO counterparts, and utilised for that purpose the UN international training modules on mine/UXO awareness education for community facilitators. CPCD undertook mine awareness activities with the children who attended the NGO’s school and the psychosocial sessions, as well as with their parents and teachers by conducting discussions and seminars, distributing visual aids and leaflets, collecting data on mined areas and victims, and providing psychological assistance for mine victims. The ICRC also commenced a mine awareness programme in Ingushetia to inform IDPs on the dangers the mines represent and to teach them basic rules of behavior in order to limit the risk of accidents when they return home. In the field of victim assistance, WHO had supported prosthetic workshops in Nazran and Vladikavkaz, where more than 450 amputees received prosthetic assistance.


Produced by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Tel: (7095) 956-6405;
Fax: (7095)956-6355;
email: Kamalyan@un.org

For more information, please contact us directly or refer to www.reliefweb.int