Humanitarian Action in the Northern Caucasus : 16 - 28 February 2001
Humanitarian Action in the Northern Caucasus
Information Bulletin: 16 - 28 February 2001
HIGHLIGHTS
UN IASC Working Group Reviews Humanitarian Action in the Northern Caucasus
The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), chaired by the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, is the primary forum for coordinating the international humanitarian response to emergencies. The IASC Working Group met from 15-16 February 2001 in Rome and discussed humanitarian action in the northern Caucasus. The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the Russian Federation provided a review of the humanitarian situation in the northern Caucasus. The main conclusions from the discussions of the IASC Working Group included: the Russian government has a key role in providing assistance; donors have provided generous support to the UN and other aid agencies; humanitarian action has contributed in alleviating suffering of the affected populations and should continue with increased focus on Chechnya; there is a need for the UN to establish overnight presence in Nazran, as well as to strengthen coordination arrangements; security arrangements remain essential, and the continued support from the Russian government is needed to establish regional protection contingent and communications networks.
UN Assesses Staff Safety Issues in Chechnya
The UN conducted a security assessment in Chechnya on 18 February 2001, following the resumption of the UN operation in Chechnya. UNSECOORD and the UNHCR Field Security Officer, as well as representatives from the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and People in Need Foundation (PINF) travelled to Grozny and Gudermes and held discussions with the authorities on the issues related to staff safety, access, and passes for humanitarian convoys. They were told that access to Chechnya is to be streamlined, and checkpoints are to be removed. As regards humanitarian convoys, UN agencies and NGOs should inform the authorities on the schedule of aid deliveries.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE
Food Aid
The aid operation in Chechnya was resumed on 18 February with DRC and PINF delivering food as well as non-food items to Grozny and several other locations. A DRC convoy of 40 trucks loaded with the European Commission Humanitarian Office (ECHO) and World Food Programme (WFP) food, and non-food items received from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), reached Grozny, Shali, and Urus-Martan. On the same day, PINF delivered WFP food to Grozny. On 19 February, DRC sent another convoy with ECHO food to the camps and a hospital in Znamenskoye. The second convoy of PINF carrying WFP wheat flour, UNHCR rice, as well as winter clothes donated by Czech citizens, entered Chechnya on 24 February (WFP supplied only wheat flour since other commodities were not available in stocks). In Ingushetia, DRC distributed 656.1 MTs of WFP food to 43,344 beneficiaries in Karabulak, Nazran city, and Malgobek, and Islamic Relief distributed 253 MTs to 16,797 IDPs in Nazran district and in the camp Sputnik. 2,209.1 MTs of WFP food was distributed to IDPs in February.
A German NGO, the Humanitarian Cargo Carriers (HCC), has been assessing humanitarian needs in Ingushetia since mid 2000 in order to determine the most appropriate strategy for operations in the region. Starting from the beginning of March, HCC will daily distribute food (hot meals, bread, fruit or milk products) to 3,600 children in 13 schools and kindergartens located in Karabulak, Nesterovskaya, Plievo, Sleptsovskaya, Troitskaya, and Yandare. HCC with the support from UNHCR and UNICEF is now finishing the construction of a wooden kitchen complex in the camp in Yandare. This system also allows for the NGO to respond immediately to movements within the IDP community. HCC intends to transfer this field kitchen project to Chechnya if security permits.
Shelter & Non-food Items
Ingush host families have received assistance from the Swiss Disaster Relief (SDR) that together with UNHCR provided compensation to those families who provided shelter to IDPs during the 1999-2000 winter. The project was completed on 28 February, with 14,656 families receiving compensation. SDR directed 10% of the overall programme budget towards the support of 48 small projects in the social, educational, and health sectors in Ingushetia.
In Ingushetia, IDPs continue to move from the Karabulak train wagons into the new UNHCR camp B in Sleptsovskaya. More than 8,000 people from Karabulak and other settlements are expected to move to camps B and C by early March. Currently some 1,000 IDPs are accommodated in camp B. Some 5,000 persons now live in camp A. The Saudi Arabian Red Crescent Society is progressing with the construction of camp C where twenty large tents are already erected, and single-family tents are being installed.
Health & Nutrition
The World Health Organization (WHO) is gathering information on the status of healthcare in Chechnya and on the activities of NGOs there. WHO has already compiled a handbook of healthcare activities in Ingushetia. The agency also identified the areas not receiving medical assistance: at present six areas with 11,555 IDPs in the districts of Nazran and Sunzha are in need of assistance.
In mid-February, WHO undertook two assessment missions to the region. A joint WHO and federal health ministry mission visited the region on 26 February to assess the current situation with TB control and prevention in Ingushetia and North Ossetia, as well as to work out a feasible plan of concerted national and international measures in this area. From 19-24 February, a WHO mother and child health expert travelled to Ingushetia to monitor the primary healthcare activities and to identify further needs in this area. The agency also conducted a seminar ‘The rational use of drugs’ in Kislovodsk for 30 health workers from Chechnya and Ingushetia, and for NGOs working in the sector.
Education
As reported by UNICEF, the number of IDP children enrolled in wooden and tented schools in Ingushetia is increasing. UNICEF is planning, in addition to gathering information on the status of schools in Chechnya, to undertake specific actions to restart education activities there. The agency continues creating partnership with NGOs to carry out rehabilitation of kindergartens and construction of wooden schools in Ingushetia. Hilfswerk Austria opened a new school in the camp A in mid-February. PINF has finished the construction of a school in Psedach and is to set up another school in a spontaneous settlement in Nesterovskaya. Aid agencies carry out recreational activities and psychosocial rehabilitation as well. UNICEF, UNHCR, and Care International held discussions on a psychosocial training project. Care is now finalising the project proposal. A sport facility provided by UNICEF and run by ARD is now operating in Sputnik camp. CPCD and PINF are also interested in similar projects, and UNICEF is now considering their project proposals.
Mine Action
The UNICEF mine action programme is entering in a new phase with the development of its main components: mine awareness and education, creation of a mine incidents data base, technical and logistic support to the WHO prosthetic workshop, and vocational training for women and youth victims of mine incidents. The agency organised a puppet-show in Vladikavkaz for some 4,000 IDP children. The children also participated in the interactive awareness games followed the puppet-show.
Produced by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
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