The Round-up offers a weekly sample of what our sister Red Cross Societies are working on around the world.
TUNISIA: The Tunisian Red Crescent celebrated International Volunteer Day with the theme of promoting safer and
easier volunteering in coordination with the IFRC and the ICRC. On this occasion, the Tunisian Red Crescent organized a campaign from December 5 – 9 in Tunis and Sfax. The campaign included many activities with the purpose of defining and promoting volunteering, recruiting volunteers, and acknowledging their efforts alongside other promotional campaigns. The campaign also included field visits to the civil society organizations and concluded with a fundraising event for the Tunisian Red Crescent.
PHILIPPINES:As rescue and assessment teams reach areas affected by Typhoon Bopha, the scale of devastation wrought by the storm continues to emerge. The typhoon has affected the lives of over 5 million people, wrecked over 70,000 houses and left more than 133,000 people seeking shelter in temporary evacuation centers. Providing communities with food, shelter and clean water are immediate priorities. So far, Philippine Red Cross staff and volunteers have served ready-to-eat meals to 15,000 people in evacuation centers, delivered food packages to 5,000 families and provided non-food supplies such as sleeping mats, blankets, hygiene items, jerry cans and tents to 1,000 families.
HAITI: In the Caribbean, Haiti has the highest rate of HIV infection. Fortunately, due to many international organizations and their HIV and AIDS prevention programs, the prevalence of the disease has gone from 2.2 per cent to 1.9 per cent between 2011 and 2012, according to the Ministry of Public Health and Population. World AIDS Day, which is celebrated on December 1 each year, was another opportunity to raise awareness regarding HIV and AIDS. The Haiti Red Cross held several activities to reach out to the population on topics such as prevention, awareness, and treatment.
GLOSSARY:
IFRC = International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
ICRC =International Committee of the Red Cross