The Round-up offers a weekly sample of what our Sister Red Cross Societies are working on around the world.
JAPAN: The Japanese Red Cross Society is scaling up its relief operations to help meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of survivors who are now housed in evacuation centres. More than 125,000 blankets and 20,000 emergency relief packs have already been distributed and further supplies that will target up to 100,000 people are being acquired.
BANGLADESH: Since the current crisis erupted in Libya, the ICRC has been helping thousands of Bangladeshi workers who have fled the country. Operating in conjunction with the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society, the ICRC has been supporting the Red Crescent volunteers who have been working day and night at Dhaka airport since 27 February, reassuring returnees and giving them the opportunity to call their families.
WORLDWIDE: The theme for yesterday’s World Water Day 2011 was ‘Water for cities: responding to the urban challenge’. Although traditionally, much of the Red Cross Red Crescent’s focus tends to be on rural communities, the successes in the Philippines have shown that simple solutions can make huge difference to the lives of those also living in urban areas.
GLOSSARY:
ICRC = International Committee of the Red Cross
IFRC = International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies