Humanitarian Action in the Northern Caucasus - 16-31 December 2001 I. HIGHLIGHTS
Government Sums up 2001 Reconstruction Programme for Chechnya
The Government Commission on Economic and Social Reconstruction of Chechnya, which met on 26 December, considered the first results of the federal target programme of reconstruction of Chechnya in 2001 and an action plan for 2002. According to the Federal Minister for Chechnya, the 2001 targets have been fulfilled by 80%, with the worst results in the health and education sectors. At the same time, over 2,000 houses were reconstructed, and 100,000 square metres of municipal housing were commissioned. The Ministry of Finance and the Chechen government fully paid all social benefits to the population of Chechnya. For the year of 2002, the government plans to allocate over RUR 18 billion (US$ 600 million) to reconstruct the damaged housing. The main task will be to switch from life support of the population of Chechnya to forming and developing its economy.
OSCE Agrees to Russian Government Proposal for Chechnya Mission
The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) agreed by a consensus to a proposal under which the Russian Government will be able to ask it to wind up its mission to Chechnya by 31 December 2002. This decision contrasted with earlier votes under which the mission, first created in 1995, had an open-ended mandate. The change will force the OSCE to re-evaluate the mission before the end of the year, and during this re-evaluation Russia will be able to ask it to withdraw from Chechnya.
President Aushev Resigns Before the End of his Mandate
On 28 December, Ruslan Aushev, President of Ingushetia, announced his resignation, more than a year ahead of the end of his mandate. The decision may affect the situation in the republic, which is a home to approximately 150,000 IDPs from Chechnya. Before that, Aushev spoke of an intention to leave the post after early presidential elections in March 2002, but the Supreme Court of Ingushetia put them off till March 2003, when the republican parliamentary elections are to be held. Aushev, who lead Ingushetia for eight years, announced that Prime Minister Akhmed Malsagov would take over the presidency until elections.
II. HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE
Food Aid
In December, the World Food Programme (WFP) and its implementing partners, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), Islamic Relief (IR), and Saudi Red Crescent Society (SRCS), provided 146,400 IDPs from Chechnya in Ingushetia 2,003 Mt of basic food commodities (wheat floor, vegetable oil, sugar, and iodised salt).
In Chechnya, the WFP implementing partners, DRC, IR, and the People in Need Foundation (PINF), conducted relief distributions to 119,400 needy families, delivering about 1,860 Mt of basic food items. In addition, PINF provided 33 Mt of food relief to 244 beneficiaries in Grozny in the framework of the WFP food-for-work programme. WFP together with IR and the Centre for Peacemaking and Community Development (CPCD) provided bread to an average of 4,000 most needy people in Grozny and Achkhoy-Martanovsky rayon of Chechnya.
Since mid-December, WFP launched with IR as a partner, the school-feeding component of its food assistance programme in Chechnya. At the initial stage, it included baking and delivering sweet buns to some 9,600 primary school pupils in Grozny. In January, the project will expand to cover other regions of Chechnya, where about 35,000 children will receive sweet buns and hot meals on a daily basis.
Shelter& Non-food Items
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) continued to replace and repair old tents in five IDP camps in Ingushetia, where, according to the latest data, 10,000 people need improved accommodation. As of 21 December 2001, UNHCR had replaced 390 tents in Aki-Yurt, B, Bairam, Bart, and Sputnik camps.
In December, HELP completed distribution of blankets, mattresses, and hygienic items to IDPs in Nazran, as well as in Malgobeksky and Sunzhensky rayons of Ingushetia. The programme, which started in September, reached about 68,000 beneficiaries.
Health
In December, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) continued its Expanded Programme of Immunisation (EPI) activities in Chechnya and Ingushetia. Following an immunisation coverage survey among IDPs in Ingushetia the agency, in close collaboration with the Ingush Ministry of Health, initiated a programme to improve measles vaccination in IDP settlements. It also finished equipping both Chechnya and Ingushetia with a full vaccination recording system.
UNICEF continued to provide basic drugs and medical material in the framework of its Mother-Child Health (MCH) programme. For example, the organisation worked with a gynaecological clinic run by the Agency for Rehabilitation and Development (ARD) in Sputnik camp, and with Memorial, a Russian NGO, which provides medical services through a mobile unit in B camp and two spontaneous settlements in Ingushetia. In Chechnya, UNICEF delivered drugs for the treatment of anaemia, acute respiratory diseases, intestinal disorder, and other pathologies among women and children to Duba-Yurt and Darbankh hospitals.
Mine Action*
UNICEF continued its programme of educating children against the dangers of mines: about 600 IDP children residing with host families in Altiyevo and Pliyevo in Ingushetia attended mine awareness performances at a drama theatre in Vladikavkaz. UNICEF restarted its programme on physical rehabilitation for mine and unexploded ordinance (UXO) victims in cooperation with the Vladikavkaz-based Centre for Physical Rehabilitation of People with Spinal Cord Malfunctions, and two NGOs, Voice of the Mountains and the Humanitarian Foundation of Malik Saydullayev (MINGA). The Rehabilitation Centre accepts a group of fifteen mine/UXO victims on a weekly basis, providing them with physical therapy for three weeks.
Other activities
The Chechen government allocated RUR 16 million to buy New Year gifts for children in Chechnya. It also instructed the local authorities to organise New Year festivities in kindergartens, schools, and other educational institutions. In addition, the Ziya Bazhayev’s Foundation, a Russian NGO, provided 10,000 gifts for children in Achkhoi-Martanovsky rayon of Chechnya.
In Ingushetia, Hilfswerk Austria prepared 3,000 gifts for distribution to IDP children at schools and kindergartens it is supporting. The Caucasian Refugee Council (CRC) distributed 670 gifts to disabled children and children in big families. The Ziya Bazhayev’s Foundation provided 10,000 gifts for children in camps A, C, Sputnik, and in all spontaneous settlements in Karabulak region. MINGA distributed gifts to over 1,300 IDP children at a New Year Eve party in Sunzhensky rayon of Ingushetia on 28 December.
* Mine action in this report refers to one or a combination of the following activities: mine awareness, victim assistance, and vocational training.
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