The Red Cross Round-up

The Round-up offers a weekly sample of what our sister Red Cross Societies are working on around the world.

YEMEN:  After nearly 50 days of heavy clashes in several Yemeni cities, a humanitarian pause went into effect on May 12, allowing local and international organizations to deliver urgent aid to families and individuals who were largely affected by the violence. The ceasefire was an opportunity for humanitarian workers to reach previously inaccessible areas in the country, and to provide vulnerable communities with basic necessities, such as food, water, medicines and psycho-social support.  The Yemen Red Crescent Society, who has been actively responding to the rising needs since the onset of the crisis, intensified its relief efforts during the pause and mobilized its staff and volunteers to deliver relief and aid services to Yemenis and foreigners across the country.
 
TANZANIA: One hundred thousand refugees have fled Burundi due to the ongoing violence in the country. While thousands of refugees have poured into Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania has, to date, witnessed the greatest influx. The Tanzania Red Cross Society is actively helping the refugees at all stages of their journey from the border to the refugee camp. At the registration centre, which hosts some 2,000 refugees at a time, Red Cross volunteers manage a first aid team to ensure that everyone who is ill receives treatment as quickly as possible.   The Red Cross is also assisting refugees in Rwanda where staff and volunteers are registering new arrivals at different entry points, in two transit camps and in one permanent camp. They are providing first aid, psychosocial support, non-food items, and helping separated family members contact their loved ones.  In Burundi, the Red Cross has deployed three first aid mobile response teams in the capital of Bujumbura, where teams offer first aid and evacuate the injured to hospitals.