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eastern_europe_central_asia

Section
ICRC operations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
A country-by-country overview of the ICRC’s work to provide neutral and independent assistance and protection for victims of conflict.
©ICRC/B. Hoffman/az-e-00197
Azerbaijan and Armenia. Thousands of people are still missing in connection with the Nagorny Karabakh conflict.
The ICRC operates in Eastern Europe and Central Asia through a network of three country delegations and two regional delegations that cover a total of 12 countries in the two regions. The main objectives of the delegations are to support and assist people affected by conflict (both current and past) and other forms of violence. Two of the main ways the ICRC does this are to remind the authorities about the problems that people in the affected areas are facing, and to visit people deprived of their freedom.

In the Caucasus, the organization is helping to clarify the fate of missing persons and is supporting families in their search for answers.

Finally, the ICRC is strengthening its relations with civilian authorities, security forces, Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, academia, civil society and major regional organizations, in order to promote the understanding and integration of legal frameworks that apply in situations of conflict and violence.

  • Key data on the ICRC’s global operational budget for 2010

    The country and region names used herein are intended to facilitate reference and have no political significance.
Key document
    23-6-2010
    Kyrgyzstan/Uzbekistan: tensions persist as people start to return home
    Thirteen days after violence broke out in the south of Kyrgyzstan, the situation remains volatile. Thousands of residents and internally displaced people (IDPs) still need basic assistance. Pascale Meige Wagner, the ICRC's head of operations for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, explains.
    (The ICRC worldwide\Eastern Europe and Central Asia\Kyrgyzstan)
    Interview Includes Photo

Annual Report
    19-5-2010
    Europe and the Americas - ICRC Annual Report 2009
    In 2009, the ICRC’s priorities were to contribute to better protection of people deprived of their freedom, to help clarify the fate of people unaccounted for from past and current conflicts, and to assist, and improve the protection of, people directly affected by ongoing armed conflict, including displaced persons, particularly in Colombia and the Caucasus. The ICRC also continued to promote IHL and to foster a deeper understanding of its role and activities among authorities, armed and security forces, universities and schools.
    (Info resources\Annual Report\2009)
    Annual Report Includes PDF

Feature
    1-7-2010
    Kyrgyzstan/Uzbekistan: lost and found
    The fighting that erupted in Kyrgyzstan in early June caused death and destruction and tore families apart as people fled their homes and country to escape the violence. The ICRC is working with the Kyrgyz and Uzbek Red Crescent Societies and authorities to restore family links.
    (The ICRC worldwide\Eastern Europe and Central Asia\Kyrgyzstan)
    Feature

    22-3-2010
    Azerbaijan: preventing tuberculosis from becoming a death sentence for criminals
    In Azerbaijan, a jail term for a petty crime can turn into a death sentence if a prisoner catches tuberculosis from fellow detainees. The ICRC's Anna Nelson and renowned Afghan/Swiss photographer, Zalmaï, went behind bars in Baku to discover what's being done to help tuberculosis-infected inmates.
    (The ICRC worldwide\Eastern Europe and Central Asia\Azerbaijan)
    Feature Includes Photo

    22-3-2010
    Azerbaijan: fighting drug-resistant tuberculosis in prisons pays off
    In Azerbaijan, tuberculosis remains a serious threat to public health. The situation is made much worse by a drug-resistant form of the disease. The ICRC is working with the Azerbaijani government and other organizations to address the problem.
    (The ICRC worldwide\Eastern Europe and Central Asia\Azerbaijan)
    Feature Includes Photo

    22-3-2010
    Georgia: love trumps fear in the fight against tuberculosis
    People who are unlucky enough to catch tuberculosis, or TB, in a country like Georgia generally don't advertise it. Fear, a lack of understanding and a Soviet legacy of isolating the infected have led to a sort of taboo about the disease. The ICRC's Anna Nelson traveled to Tbilisi with renowned Afghan/Swiss photographer, Zalmaï, to meet two men who are helping to shatter the stigma of TB.
    (The ICRC worldwide\Eastern Europe and Central Asia\Georgia)
    Feature Includes Photo

    19-3-2010
    Turkmenistan: leaders of Central Asian National Societies meet
    In February 2010, the Turkmenistan Red Crescent Society hosted the Annual Forum of Central Asian National Societies’ leadership. The event, held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, gave the National Societies an opportunity to discuss regional priorities and strategies.
    (The ICRC worldwide\Eastern Europe and Central Asia\Turkmenistan)
    Feature Includes Photo

    6-8-2009
    Georgia/South Ossetia: life on both sides of the administrative boundary line
    On both sides of the boundary, in South Ossetia as in Georgia, the battles that took place in the summer of 2008 left indelible scars. The enduring aftermath of the conflict is revealed by an elderly couple, cut off from their children and grandchildren, who now live 'on the other side' and a young widow determined to secure the future of her son.
    (The ICRC worldwide\Eastern Europe and Central Asia\Georgia)
    Feature Includes Photo

    5-1-2009
    Georgia: victims of conflict hope for a brighter year ahead
    As Orthodox Christmas approaches in Central and Eastern Europe, many displaced and isolated families affected by the armed conflict between Russia and Georgia five months ago remain in need of help. For elderly people, like 60-year-old Nunu Doliashvili, the holiday season would have been very bleak indeed, were it not for some much-needed assistance from ICRC.
    (The ICRC worldwide\Eastern Europe and Central Asia\Georgia)
    Feature Includes Photo

    30-9-2008
    Azerbaijan: safe playgrounds for children
    Although the hostilities in the Nagorny Karabakh region of Azerbaijan were suspended over a decade ago, their deadly legacy lives on in the form of landmines. The ICRC endeavours to prevent the havoc they cause.
    (The ICRC worldwide\Eastern Europe and Central Asia\Azerbaijan)
    Feature Includes Photo

    24-9-2008
    Georgia: portrait from Zugdidi
    Many people who fled conflict in Abkhazia in 1992-3 remain displaced in Western Georgia and are now being joined by families made homeless by the recent fighting. A visiting ICRC team, including Jessica Barry, has been checking on their wellbeing.
    (The ICRC worldwide\Eastern Europe and Central Asia\Georgia)
    Feature Includes Photo

ICRC film
    15-5-2008
    Chechnya: rising from its ashes
    In Grozny, the streets of the market are full. But despite the rebuilding, it’s hard to find a decent flat or a proper job. Some people have started their own businesses thanks to the ICRC, such as Taiza who is making mattresses. But as Grozny rises from its ashes, other families still struggle to come to terms with the past, desperate to know what has happened to their missing relatives.
    (Info resources\ICRC publications and films\Films\From the field)
    ICRC film Includes Video

Interview
    6-8-2010
    Georgia/South Ossetia: two years after conflict, daily life still a struggle
    Twenty-four months after hostilities erupted between Georgia and Russia, the ICRC is still helping people affected by the war. Ariane Tombet, who heads the ICRC delegation in Georgia, explains how the organization has adapted its activities to meet current needs.
    (The ICRC worldwide\Eastern Europe and Central Asia\Georgia)
    Interview Includes Photo

    12-5-2010
    Eastern Europe: clarifying the fate of Georgians, Ossetians and Russians missing in connection with 2008 hostilities
    Djordje Drndarski, the ICRC's deputy head of operations for Eastern Europe, explains how coordination mechanisms can help families find out what happened to their missing loved ones.
    (The ICRC worldwide\Eastern Europe and Central Asia\Georgia)
    Interview Includes Photo

    8-4-2010
    Kyrgyzstan: ICRC helps Kyrgyz hospitals treat victims of violence
    A day after violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces in Bishkek, Pascale Meige Wagner, ICRC head of operations for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, assesses the humanitarian situation in and around the Kyrgyz capital.
    (The ICRC worldwide\Eastern Europe and Central Asia\Kyrgyzstan)
    Interview Includes Photo

    7-4-2010
    Northern Caucasus: ICRC remains active in an environment increasingly marked by violence
    In Ingushetia, Chechnya and Dagestan, the security situation has worsened since last summer and remains extremely volatile, making life difficult for many civilians. Djordje Drndarski, deputy head of operations for Eastern Europe, discusses the humanitarian situation in the region and the ICRC's operations.
    (The ICRC worldwide\Eastern Europe and Central Asia\Russia)
    Interview Includes Photo

    22-3-2010
    Tuberculosis: stopping a killer that can't be kept behind bars
    Tuberculosis, or TB, as it’s commonly known, is a curable disease and yet it continues to spread across the globe. The vast majority of TB deaths are in the developing world but the airborne illness is also making a comeback in Europe and North America. The former Soviet Union is currently seeing some of the highest numbers of multi-drug resistant TB cases ever recorded. The ICRC’s Nikoloz Sadradze has followed the situation in Georgia for many years and is now working with the authorities in Azerbaijan to stem the spread of TB in prisons. He warns that efforts must be stepped up to stop this deadly disease.
    (The ICRC worldwide\Eastern Europe and Central Asia\Azerbaijan)
    Interview Includes Photo

    22-3-2010
    Georgia's First Lady talks about disease, politics and damage control on World TB Day
    Sandra Roelofs is many things to many people – she's a mother, wife, nurse, former delegate for the ICRC and a vocal health advocate on a range of issues from social work to prisons. She also happens to be married to the Georgian President, Mikheil Saakashvili.
    (The ICRC worldwide\Eastern Europe and Central Asia\Georgia)
    Interview Includes Photo

    15-2-2010
    Missing loved ones: helping families cope with the uncertainty
    When a loved one goes missing, the psychological impact on those left behind can be overwhelming. Laurence de Barros-Duchene is in charge of the ICRC's mental health programmes for victims of armed conflict and other forms of violence. Recently returned from Georgia/Abkhazia, where she helped train specialists and staff of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in supporting the families of missing persons, she explains how the psychological distress caused by the disappearance is compounded by its legal, economic and social consequences.
    (Focus\Missing persons)
    Interview Includes Photo

    6-8-2009
    Georgia/South Ossetia: people forced to cope with lasting upheaval
    A year after Georgian and Russian forces clashed in Southern Caucasus, most of the tens of thousands of people forced to leave their homes have returned. Pascale Meige Wagner is ICRC's head of operations for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. As she explains, the fighting of summer 2008 continues to have a major impact on the people of the region.
    (The ICRC worldwide\Eastern Europe and Central Asia\Georgia)
    Interview Includes Photo

    23-3-2009
    Kyrgyzstan: managing tuberculosis
    Tuberculosis is a major killer in Kyrgyzstan, particularly in prisons, where rates of infection are around 40 times higher than in the general population. Gulmira Kalmambetova of the ICRC explains how the organization is helping curb the spread of the disease.
    (The ICRC worldwide\Eastern Europe and Central Asia\Kyrgyzstan)
    Interview Includes Photo

Operational update
Photo Collection
Press article
    10-6-2010
    Prescription — compassion
    A short jail term can mean a death sentence if a prisoner catches tuberculosis from fellow detainees. In Azerbaijan and Georgia, the ICRC works with authorities to tackle the problem inside prisons and out, helping to give former inmates a chance for freedom from a deadly disease. Article published in the Red Cross Red Crescent Magazine, No 1, 2010.
    (ICRC Activities\Assistance\Health\Health in prison)
    Press article

    2-1-2008
    Return to Vedeno
    While the situation is gradually returning to normal in Chechnya, an ICRC worker gives an account of his return to the Vedeno area, a place he enjoyed in his youth. Article published in the Red Cross Red Crescent Magazine, No 3, 2007
    (The ICRC worldwide\Eastern Europe and Central Asia\Russia)
    Press article Includes Photo

    30-4-2007
    Georgia : A tale of three women
    Since Georgia gained independence in 1991, thousands of families have been uprooted and torn apart by the tensions caused by the secessionist aspirations of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The stories of three women poignantly attest to the suffering these people have endured - Article published in the Red Cross Red Crescent Magazine, No 1, 2007
    (The ICRC worldwide\Eastern Europe and Central Asia\Georgia)
    Press article

Video Collection
    23-3-2010
    Tuberculosis: a killer that can't be kept behind bars – video
    Since 1995, the ICRC has been working with the prison authorities in Azerbaijan to fight tuberculosis. A decade ago, it killed hundreds of inmates each year. Today, this figure has dropped to 20.
    (Info resources\Video)
    Video Collection Includes Video

    8-8-2009
    “Tskhinvali? How do you pronounce that?” A comic-book report on South Ossetia, by Chappatte.
    Following a report on Lebanon as part of the “Our world. Your move.” campaign, cartoonist Chappatte visited South Ossetia last June. He portrays everyday life in the region a year after the fighting of summer 2008, the effects of which are still very much present. The report was published in Swiss daily Le Temps on 8 August 2009.
    (Info resources\Video)
    Video Collection

    21-8-2008
    Georgia: ICRC gets help to people caught up in conflict
    In the first days of the emergency, hundreds of tonnes of food, blankets and sanitary supplies were flown into the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. During his 3 day visit to Georgia and the Russian Federation, ICRC President Jacob Kellenberger saw the difficult conditions for himself, and met some of the thousands of people displaced by fighting and in urgent need of assistance.
    (Info resources\Video)
    Video Collection Includes Video

More in this section
    26-2-2010
    Missing persons: first step towards clarifying the fate of Georgian, Ossetian and Russian persons missing as a result of August 2008 hostilities
    Geneva (ICRC) – A meeting was held on 23 February in Geneva under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to discuss the issue of persons unaccounted for since the end of the August 2008 hostilities. Participants from Tbillisi, Moscow and Tskhinvali/Tskhinval took part in the meeting, which focused on the preparation of a coordination mechanism to clarify the fate of people who went missing during and after the hostilities. The ICRC provided participants with a preliminary list of missing persons.
    (The ICRC worldwide\Eastern Europe and Central Asia)



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2-09-2010