Red cross assisted record numbers in 2009

Geneva, 09 June-(ANA)-Some 4.6 million internally displaced people (IDPs) – 20% more than in 2008 – benefited from humanitarian assistance provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) last yer, the organization has said.

Approximately 15% of the ICRC operational budget, or 150 million Swiss francs, was devoted to its efforts to alleviate the suffering and address the needs of people driven from their homes as a result of armed conflict and other violence.

"The hardship faced by millions of displaced men, women and children around the world, and by the relatives or communities that often take them in, is extreme and can continue for decades," said Anne Zeidan, head of the ICRC's IDP project. "In armed conflict, displacement is often caused by violations of international humanitarian law, so greater compliance by national authorities or armed groups controlling a territory would prevent this tragedy."

The ICRC increased its assistance to displaced people in response to greater needs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan, the Philippines, Somalia and Yemen and thanks to better access in Iraq. People driven from their homes have special needs at every stage of their displacement: as they flee, when they return and once they start to resettle. Communities hosting them also often have wide-ranging needs.

 In total, the ICRC assisted 14.25 million civilians in 2009, 30% of whom were people displaced within their own countries.  Its largest operations in terms of the budget devoted to the displaced were conducted in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan, the Philippines, Somalia, Sri Lanka and Sudan.(ANA)

FA/ANA/09 June 2010--------