The Round-up offers a weekly sample of what our sister Red Cross Societies are working on around the world.
NIGERIA: Last August, heavy rains began in Nigeria, leading to the worst flooding the country had experienced in 40 years. Hundreds
of thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed, along with farmland, schools and health care centres. The Nigerian Red Cross Society and the IFRC are working with local authorities in Kogi State to ensure that 100 households that are receiving repair and rebuilding support are issued the necessary documentation that gives them the customary right to occupy their new premises.
BURUNDI: Despite increasing attention to the issue, menstrual hygiene management is still a very sensitive – often taboo – subject which is not openly discussed, acknowledged or addressed by humanitarian organizations. The risks of ignoring this sensitive topic, particularly in emergencies, are significant. In late 2012, the IFRC began a pilot project to improve understanding of menstrual hygiene management needs in emergencies, in part through the distribution of menstrual hygiene kits. IFRC workers recently joined the Burundi Red Cross in handing out 2,000 kits to girls and women in the Bwagiriza refugee camp.
GLOSSARY:
IFRC = International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies