To maintain the quality of its services, the Assistance Division develops and helps shape both assistance and institutional policies, guidelines and strategy. It plays an active role in debates within the Movement and the wider humanitarian community, and with academic institutions, professional associations and other bodies involved in analysing and developing professional standards relevant to its fields of activity.

In 2007, most of the ICRC’s delegations and offices around the world carried out health, economic security, and water and habi­tat programmes. The most extensive programmes were in Afghanistan, Chad, the Caucasus, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Israel and the occupied and autonomous Palestinian territories, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Uganda.

ICRC activities to promote health are designed to ensure that peo­ple affected by conflict or violence have access to basic preventive and curative health care that meets universally recognized standards. To this end, the ICRC assists local or regional health services, which it sometimes replaces on a strictly temporary basis.

In 2007, the ICRC provided monthly support to hospitals admit­ting wounded patients – including people with mine injuries – and other surgical emergencies. It also supported first-aid and emergency-evacuation services run by National Societies or other players. Basic health care programmes were run in some 20 countries.

Health care activities are carried out as part of the 2004 ICRC Assistance Policy and include:

• the development and implementation of comprehensive hospital emergency care, including surgical, medical, paediatric and gynaecological/obstetric care, as in Afghanistan

• strengthening the national hospital-management capacity in chronic conflict and post-crisis situations, such as in Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda

• responding to an increase in the number of weapon-wounded by providing expatriate surgical teams in Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and Sudan

• ensuring that hospitals have the drugs and consumables required to carry out emergency surgery, as in Afghanistan, Iraq, the occupied and autonomous Palestinian territories and Somalia

• increasing the immunization capacity and backing immunization activities in conflict areas of Afghanistan, Chad, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sri Lanka and Sudan (Darfur)

• providing support for victims of sexual violence, especially in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan (Darfur)

• providing support for an enhanced prison health system in Afghanistan, Bolivia, Haiti, Kyrgyzstan, Peru, Rwanda and the southern Caucasus

• continuing the tuberculosis (TB) control programme in prisons in the Caucasus and Kyrgyzstan as it is gradually handed over to the authorities

• in accordance with established criteria, assisting people living with HIV/AIDS in African prisons, for instance in Burundi, Lesotho, Rwanda and Uganda, in partnership with the relevant Ministries of Justice and Health, national NGOs and international organizations In another health-related field, the physical rehabilitation of dis­abled people, the ICRC provided support to centres in 26 countries in 2007. The three main objectives of its programmes are to improve access to rehabilitation services, promote good quality services and ensure the longterm functioning of the services.

The ICRC’s water and habitat programmes provide basic services to groups of people affected by conflict or violence, ensuring they have access to water supplies, decent conditions of sanitation and adequate shelter. When necessary, health facilities are renovated to improve access to health care. The services are provided through­out the different phases of a crisis, from the acute stage to the post-crisis period.

In 2007, the ICRC constructed or repaired water and sanitation facilities in some 40 countries. Its projects, implemented by expa­triate and national engineers and technicians, catered for the needs of millions of people worldwide. They ranged from making water safe to drink by setting up hand pumps and water treatment systems to ensuring proper sewage disposal in towns and villages affected by armed conflict. They also included repairing and, in some cases, building health care facilities and centres to house dis­placed people, and building or improving water and sanitation facilities in places of detention.

In many contexts, it is the task of women and girls to fetch water. Making water facilities more accessible reduces their exposure to the risk of attack and sexual violence.

In Iraq, where the ICRC maintained its presence despite volatile security conditions, water and habitat engineers continued to help Iraqi water boards and the health authorities, operating emer­gency projects in water and sewage stations and health facilities.

In Israel and the occupied and autonomous Palestinian territo­ries, the ICRC expanded its water and habitat set-up to address emergencies following military incursions that affected the oper­ation of water, sewage and health infrastructure in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The projects also aimed to support the local authorities, whose work to repair, maintain and develop the sewage and water pumping stations and distribution networks was hindered by a lack of funding.

In Chad and Sudan, the ICRC continued to focus on improving access to water supply and health facilities for communities affected by recurrent violence. Beneficiaries were IDPs, returnees and residents in rural areas and urban centres alike.

In Côte d’Ivoire, the supply of drinking water in the north remained very precarious despite the Ouagadougou Agreement. The ICRC provided local water boards with electrical and mechanical equipment and chemical reagents to ensure a safe water supply.

In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is prone to chronic instability, most vulnerable groups among residents and returnees have benefited from improved access to drinking water thanks to the renovation of small urban water schemes, the construction of new wells and spring protection. All projects were implemented in cooperation with the local authorities in both urban and rural settings. In addition, water and sanitation activities were carried out in selected medical facilities receiving support under ICRC health programmes.

In Sri Lanka, people displaced by renewed fighting in the east and north and living in camps or with host families were pro­vided with essentials such as shelter, water and sanitation facil­ities. Shelter materials were also given to returnees in the eastern region.

In the Philippines, the ICRC continued to address acute emer­gencies stemming from the conflict, mainly in the south, where the population was forced to flee the fighting. It trained mem­bers of the Philippines National Red Cross in providing emer­gency water and sanitation assistance in a situation of conflict or natural disaster and, in close cooperation with the authorities, implemented projects to alleviate the effects of the severe over­crowding in prisons across the country.

In places of detention with no other means of providing detainees with acceptable living conditions, the ICRC carried out water and sanitation activities and repairs to water supply and sanitation systems, chiefly in Afghanistan, Burundi, Cambodia, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guinea, Haiti, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, the Philippines, Rwanda and Uganda.

The ICRC’s approach to economic security aims to ensure that households and communities can cover their essential needs and maintain or restore sustainable livelihoods. This involves initia­tives ranging from emergency distributions of food and essential household items to sustainable food production programmes and micro-economic initiatives. Examples of the latter two include the maintenance/rehabilitation of irrigation perimeters, in-kind grants, small-scale community-based cash-for-work projects, and livestock management.

The ICRC’s approach to economic security is to take account of the concerns of the households and communities, as it sees them as essential for broadening its institutional understanding of the people it is mandated to protect.

With a view to improving the sustainable nature of its response, the ICRC also devoted special attention to technical training mat­ters, in close consultation with the International Federation. It has adopted an approach that involves training instructors to deliver technical training and coaching to ICRC staff and to qualified members of the National Society in their respective places of assignment. In economic security matters, the ICRC continues to pay special attention to issues related to land tenure, and to their influence on tension and violence.

In 2007, the ICRC carried out economic security work in some 30 countries, providing IDPs and residents with food aid and essential household and hygiene items. Many more people – including single-headed households – were assisted through sustainable food production programmes or micro-economic initiatives. Up to 90 specialized expatriate staff were involved, in addition to nearly 700 national staff.

The ICRC supplied emergency food and/or essential household items to people affected by conflict and violence in Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Indonesia, Iraq, Kenya, Lebanon, Liberia, Nepal, the occupied and autonomous Palestinian territories, the Philippines, the Russian Federation, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Uganda, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

On selected occasions, and mostly because the detaining author­ities were unable to respond in a timely manner to deteriorating situations, the ICRC provided food for inmates, and supported feeding programmes and/or provided technical advice for the management and prevention of malnutrition in some prisons in the Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Haiti, Madagascar, Niger, the Philippines, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia.

The ICRC carried out crop and livestock (including veterinary and fishery) projects in Chad, Colombia, the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, Liberia, the occupied and autonomous Palestinian territories, the Philippines, Senegal, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Uganda. It maintained micro-economic initia­tives, such as community-based cash-for-work and in-kind grants for farms and cottage industries, in Georgia, the occupied and autonomous Palestinian territories, the Russian Federation, Somalia and Sri Lanka.

In Pakistan, the ICRC continued its many crop projects, and ended a livestock-restocking project conducted in cooperation with the German Red Cross.

The deterioration of the humanitarian situation in a number of contexts prompted substantial increases in operations, notably in the Central African Republic, eastern Chad, Iraq, Somalia and Sudan (Darfur). In each case, the ICRC tailored its response to the event and the country in question, providing food, essential household items and seeds, livestock restocking and veterinary treatment.

In Darfur, the ICRC continued to run feeding programmes in partnership with the British Red Cross, and took charge of the management of the IDP camp in Gereida. In Iraq, the ICRC endeavoured to address the difficulties related to its remotecontrol operation by developing a network of local partners, including the Iraqi Red Crescent Society and a number of Iraqi NGOs. In the occupied and autonomous Palestinian territories, the ICRC maintained its economic assistance programme in support of its protection efforts. This included livelihood support programmes aimed at addressing, in material terms, the consequences of closures and other limitations on the movement of civilians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In Somalia, the ICRC scaled up its economic security assistance following an increase in the armed confrontation.

The ICRC has begun efforts to make its response to the social and economic reintegration of disabled people more systematic. It conducted feasibility studies and pilot projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, northern Iraq and Pakistan, as well as in Afghanistan, where such an approach has been in place for many years.

A team of external consultants evaluated the economic security programme in Georgia before it was wound up.

The Assistance Division produced a number of guidelines and reference tools in its three areas of activity. These guidelines and tools were developed after a careful review of existing documents and other sources of information and included:

• the Spanish version of the reference manual First Aid in armed conflicts and other situations of violence
• an internet training course on dealing with drug-resistant TB
• revision of the Antenatal guidelines for primary health care in crisis conditions
• additional technical guidelines for physical rehabilitation services
• guidelines for cash transfer programming, together with the International Federation and the British Red Cross

In 2007, as in previous years, the Assistance Division worked unstintingly to improve the quality and scope of training for its health, economic security and water and habitat personnel. It organized courses and workshops on issues such as first aid, basic health care, emergency surgery in war-torn areas, hospital management, economic security, assessment of water supply systems and water engineering. It allocated substantial resources to training and contributed its expertise to on-site courses for health care personnel working in places of detention and to war-surgery seminars held around the world.

In addition, six Health Emergencies in Large Populations (H.E.L.P.) courses, given in three languages, were organized in Geneva (Switzerland), Baltimore and Honolulu (United States), Pretoria (South Africa), Ouidah (Benin) and Cuernevaca (Mexico), which brings the total of H.E.L.P courses organized to 97 for more than 2,000 students since the first one was held 20 years ago.

Throughout the year, the Assistance Division participated in workshops, forums and conferences attended by key humanitarian agencies such as specialized UN organizations, notably the WFP, the Food and Agriculture Organization, WHO and UNHCR, and NGOs such as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Action Contre la Faim, Oxfam, Handicap International and Physicians for Human Rights. It also maintained and developed a network of contacts with professional associations and academic institutions. The ICRC’s expertise in specialized areas such as the rehabilitation of amputees, water and habitat engineering, war surgery, and health and medical ethics in prisons was frequently solicited in interna­tional conferences and workshops.


ICRC Annual Report 2007