UNITED NATIONS TO SEND AID FOLLOWING ITS FIRST ASSESSMENT IN CHECHNYA

Press Release
IHA/702

UNITED NATIONS TO SEND AID FOLLOWING ITS FIRST ASSESSMENT IN CHECHNYA

GENEVA/NEW YORK, 24 April (OCHA) -- The United Nations today carried out its first rapid humanitarian needs assessment by international staff in the Republic of Chechnya. The mission assessed staff safety and humanitarian conditions in three locations, Achkoi-Martan, Urus Martan and Alkhan-Yurt. The team was comprised of United Nations officials from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP), the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Office of the Security Coordinator.

The mission’s members were struck by the enormous needs of both resident and internally displaced populations. The mission reported dire conditions in the hospitals (operations being carried out with limited basic anaesthetics and medicines), a high number of civilians who have lost their limbs to anti- personnel mines and the urgent need to provide adequate shelter and basic relief items for those displaced. The high incidence of diarrhea-related diseases, particularly among children, and the meagre materials available to help children re-establish a sense of normalcy in schools will also need to be addressed.

The United Nations is working with the Russian Ministry of Emergencies and a local Chechen non-governmental organization to dispatch a humanitarian convoy tomorrow to the Republic. Some 17 trucks will deliver food aid, plastic sheeting, oral rehydration salts, blankets and clothing, among other relief items, to address the urgent humanitarian needs identified by the mission.

For further information please contact: Donato Kiniger-Passigli, OCHA, Geneva (tel.: 917 2653) or Rosa Malango, OCHA, New York (tel.: 963 4832/2380). Please also view OCHA’s web site at: www.reliefweb.int

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