The Round-up offers a weekly sample of what our sister Red Cross Societies are working on around the world.
CROATIA: The flood-wave on the Danube River – which caused wreaked havoc across Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary – has
passed through Croatia without serious consequence thanks to enormous efforts to implement disaster preparedness measures. From the outset, when the potential for a major disaster became apparent, the Croatian Red Cross played an important role at local and national level as a member of the crisis management teams that worked to make sure the threat of disaster did not become a reality. The Croatian Red Cross carried out a range of preparedness and support activities, which included hundreds of Red Cross volunteers filling thousands of sand bags, preparing and distributing food and water to those involved in flood defence activities, and setting up emergency phone lines for both residents and volunteers.
ITALY: The Italian Red Cross has been active in the field of drug-related issues since 1976, when its then president, Massimo Barra, founded the Villa Maraini Therapeutic Community in Rome. Today, the therapeutic community is a multi-service free treatment facility that helps 800 drug users each day with a wide range of free therapies and has a success rate of over 30 per cent. Villa Maraini has now become one of the leading centers in substance abuse mitigation and prevention, serving as a reference for all Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies. Since 2004, the Villa Maraini Foundation – together with the Italian Red Cross and the IFRC – provides regular training and technical assistance on harm reduction and drug abuse treatment to over 25 National Societies worldwide.
GLOSSARY:
IFRC = International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies