Humanitarian Action in the Northern Caucasus : 1 - 15 February 2001
Humanitarian Action in the Northern Caucasus
Information Bulletin: 1 - 15 February 2001
HIGHLIGHTS
Aid Agencies To Resume Operations In Chechnya
Following the release of a staff member of Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) – Holland on 4 February 2001, the humanitarian community at large is intending to resume activities in Chechnya. The resumption of the UN’s and its NGO partners’ activities would be on a small scale and with local staff distributing the aid to beneficiaries. The UN, together with its partners, namely the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and People in Need Foundation (PINF), is planning to send food and non-food convoys to Grozny and Shali on 18 February.
Efforts Towards Enhancing Cohesion Among The Humanitarian Community
The idea of cohesion among the humanitarian community was first brought up as early as October 1999. The UN raised the issue again this year and prepared a draft protocol between the UN and non-governmental organisations on humanitarian action in the northern Caucasus. The draft protocol includes the following issues: programme coordination and information exchange, staff safety and communications network, and access to and freedom of movement in the region. The document is aimed at enhancing coordination and safety of humanitarian action in the region.
Communications Network And Access: Pending Issues
Communications and access to Chechnya still remain issues of concern for the humanitarian community at large. There are two issues related to the communications networks: the first is the UN-NGO VHF communications network for operations that exists in Ingushetia and North Ossetia, but has not been authorised for Chechnya, and the second is a new UN-NGO VHF communications network for staff safety for which authorisation is pending. The main issues related to access are a lack of clear understanding whom to contact for passes, and passes are given for a short period. The UN continues working with the relevant authorities to create communications networks for staff safety available for the humanitarian community at large, as well as to develop a clear system of passes to ensure access to Chechnya. The aid agencies suggest that passes be given by a civilian branch of the authorities, for example the Chechen administration, and for a longer period. An additional proposal is for a federal structure, for example the Foreign Ministry, to issue ID cards. The UN Humanitarian Coordinator and Designated Official for security backed by OCHA and UNSECOORD, is supporting UN agencies and NGOs resolve these pending issues.
Population Movements
According to the Ingush authorities, currently there are 176,000 IDPs living in Ingushetia. 144,375 persons of them are officially registered. The official data also indicates that the highest number of IDPs are registered in Sunzha district. The number of displaced persons registered with DRC is 151,417. As indicated by the UNHCR monitors, the number of new arrivals from Chechnya is increasing, and during the reporting period as many as 1,700 persons arrived in Ingushetia while only 100 people left for Chechnya over the same period. The majority of new arrivals were from Argun, Grozny, and Achkhoy-Martan. The IDPs indicate the security situation and lack of inadequate living conditions as the main reasons for remaining in Ingushetia.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE
Food Aid
DRC and Islamic Relief (IR) distributed World Food Programme (WFP) food to 86,272 IDPs in Ingushetia. DRC distributed 1,110 MTs of food to 73,659 beneficiaries in Karabulak, Nazran city, and Malgobek and Sunzha districts, whereas IR provided 190 MTs of food to 12,613 IDPs in Nazran district and in the camp A. Benevolence International Foundation (BIF) continues providing supplementary food to displaced people in Ingushetia. During the reporting period, the NGO distributed 15 MTs of canned food to 20,000 IDPs in Nazran district. In the same period, Action by Churches Together and Hungarian Interchurch Aid (ACT/HIA) distributed 44.5 MTs of food to 6,850 people in Assinovskaya and Sernovodsk of Achkhoy-Martan district of Chechnya. 3,970 people in North Ossetia and Stavropol region also benefited from this assistance.
Shelter & Non-food Items
UNHCR continues the construction of the camp B in Ingushetia that will accommodate 4,000 IDPs from the Karabulak wagon camp and some of the spontaneous settlements. UNHCR has 1,450 tents in stock, and 800 more are arriving. The agency has already erected the tents provided by the Swedish government, and some 500 IDPs are now accommodated at the camp. In addition, the Ingush EMERCOM, together with the Saudi Arabian Red Crescent Society, has been constructing a camp C.
UNHCR together with its NGO partner, International Rescue Committee (IRC), has completed the upgrading of 55 spontaneous settlements, i.e. providing IDPs with 3.5 square metres of warm and dry living space per person. Distributions of shelter materials to people living in spontaneous settlements continue. 13,600 IDPs in 138 settlements have already received UNHCR building materials such as roof sheeting, timber, plastic, cement, as well as non-food items. IDPs in Ingushetia receive non-food items from NGOs as well. BIF distributed 132,313 pairs of winter shoes to IDP women and children in the districts of Nazran and Sunzha, as well as to 1,637 Ingush IDPs from North Ossetia. DRC provided 80,000 beneficiaries hygienic items.
Health & Nutrition
The medical consultation centre established in Nazran last November with the support from UNHCR and the World Health Organization (WHO) assist IDPs by arranging referrals for in-patient, outpatient, and sanatorium treatment in health facilities in Ingushetia, as well as in other regions when specialised treatment is needed. UNHCR covers the cost of the transport to the health facilities. The centre also helps people to get necessary drugs. Since the beginning of the operation, the centre has provided consultations to 380 IDPs.
Hilfswerk Austria constructed three medical modules in the villages Altievo, Plievo, and Yandare of the Nazran district. These facilities are available to other NGOs as well. PINF and IR that carry out healthcare activities in the same areas are to work out a common schedule to use the medical points.
Education
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) signed partnership agreements with the Centre for Peacemaking and Community Development (CPCD) and Hilfswerk Austria for the construction of schools in Ingushetia. CPCD and Hilfswerk already run five and three schools respectively, in the IDP camps in Ingushetia. UNICEF is now considering project proposals by other NGOs such as Agency for Rehabilitation and Development (ARD), Human Cargo Carriers (HCC), and IRC. Caritas International that together with the local NGO ‘Berkat’ runs a children centre in the Leninsky district of Grozny plans to open similar centres in other areas of the city provided that they have support from UNICEF. At present, some 50 vulnerable children attend the centre where they receive food, medical treatment, and educational services.
Produced by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
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