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	New kinds of harm & suffering being inflicted on people caught up in fighting by International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)   Dec 2010   Geneva (ICRC) – The armed conflicts and other situations of violence now in existence require a more targeted and diverse humanitarian response than those of even a few years ago, said the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) today on launching its annual appeal to donors in Geneva.   To be able to take the kind of action required, the ICRC is asking donors for more than 1.2 billion Swiss francs* to fund its worldwide efforts in 2011.   "The proliferation of non-State armed groups, combined with the increasingly drawn-out nature of today"s conflicts, is inflicting new kinds of harm and suffering on people caught up in fighting," said ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger. "They"re exposed to multiple risks, from suicide bombings to sexual violence, and many wind up living in a perpetual state of fear as their coping mechanisms are weakened day by day."   The ICRC"s 2011 budget includes the initial figures of nearly 1.05 billion Swiss francs for field operations and of 183 million francs for support provided by the organization"s headquarters in Geneva. The initial field budget for 2011, at 12 per cent above the corresponding figure presented a year ago, is the highest ever.   For the first time, the ICRC intends to simultaneously run four different operations at an annual cost of over 80 million francs each, and nine with annual budgets in excess of 40 million francs each.   "The size of our projected field budget is an indication of the complexity and diversity of the needs we are addressing in the emergency and early recovery phases. We have had to find new and more effective ways of dealing with them," said Mr Kellenberger.   "Not only do we need to meet acute challenges, like shortages of food, water or medicine, but we also have to focus more on addressing the indirect effects of hostilities, by ensuring for example that people have access to health care and by making counselling available for rape victims."   For the second year in a row, Afghanistan will be the ICRC"s largest humanitarian operation in budgetary terms, with an expected expenditure of more than 89 million Swiss francs. This amount reflects the organization"s renewed commitment to meeting the acute medical needs of countless war casualties and to providing the aid required by vast numbers of people displaced within the country.   Other major operations include those in Iraq, with a budget of 85.8 million francs, and in Sudan and Pakistan, which are expected to cost 82.8 million and 82.4 million francs, respectively.   The ICRC"s operation in Yemen, where it is focusing its efforts on assisting tens of thousands of people displaced by fighting in various parts of the country, is set to receive the largest boost in funding, from 23.9 to 48.8 million francs.   Thirty-seven per cent of the overall field budget is allocated to Africa, where the ICRC not only distributes food and household items to people suffering from armed violence and the general lack of security, but also helps people regain their self-sufficiency through agricultural initiatives.   Commenting on the ICRC"s overall priorities for 2011, Mr Kellenberger said: "Eighty per cent of the budget will still be devoted to classic conflict situations. But we will also be addressing the needs arising from other forms of violence, from inter-communal clashes to urban violence, where the effects on the population can be equally severe." Visit the related web page
	Governments must promote rights of landmine and cluster bomb survivors by Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC); International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL)   Dec 2010   Despite significant advances, hundreds of thousands of landmine and cluster munition survivors worldwide still struggle to see their rights respected, said two global civil society campaigns as they marked the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3 December.   The Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) are marking the day with a dance in Geneva parallel to an annual meeting of the 1997 treaty banning landmines.   "Landmine and cluster munition survivors can and should be active contributors to their societies, not passive aid recipients," said Firoz Ali Alizada, Treaty Implementation Officer at the ICBL and a landmine survivor himself. "Victim assistance is a matter of human rights, and governments should work with survivors to increase awareness and promote these rights."   In the context of the Mine Ban Treaty and the Convention on Cluster Munitions, victims include anyone who, individually or collectively, has suffered physical, emotional and psychological injury, sustained economic loss or had their fundamental rights substantially impaired due to the use of landmines or cluster munitions. This includes all those injured or killed by the weapons, as well as their families and affected communities.   The past year has seen three major advances in the international legal framework that obliges states to provide crucial assistance to persons with disabilities, namely:   On 3 December 2009, the Second Review Conference of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, which has 156 states parties, issued the Cartagena Action Plan, which aims to ensure that rights-based victim assistance initiatives improve over the next five years;   In 2009, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), which entered into force on 3 May 2008, began to be implemented, including in several states with significant numbers of survivors of landmines and explosive remnants of war; and   On 12 November 2010, the first meeting of the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, which entered into force as binding international law on 1 August 2010, issued the Vientiane Action Plan to translate the Convention''s strong rights-based victim assistance obligations into concrete actions.   "In recent years, progress has been made on policies and plans to improve victim assistance, but survivors of landmines and explosive remnants of war say their daily lives haven''t changed much," said Nerina Cevra, Coordinator of Survivor Rights & Victim Assistance at Action on Armed Violence, a UK-based member of both the CMC and the ICBL. "Governments need to do more to close this gap and make a real difference in the lives of survivors."   The CMC and ICBL recommend five priority areas for governments to concentrate their victim assistance efforts, including improvements in:   Socio-economic inclusion: (i.e. being a productive member of the community and fully participating in community life). Survivors themselves identify this as the top priority.   Accessibility: Too often, services are not accessible to those who most need them, either because they are offered only in city centres, because they are too expensive for survivors to afford, or because there are physical barriers to access for people with disabilities, including landmine and cluster munition survivors.   Inclusion: Governments must ensure survivors are actively involved in the planning, delivery and evaluation of victim assistance programmes.   Resource mobilisation: Victim assistance programmes need adequate financial, technical and human resources that are both long-term and sustainable. Governments should address the needs of all survivors by allocating national resources and asking for international cooperation and assistance where necessary.   Reporting: States must make every effort to collect information on casualties and assess the needs of survivors in order to provide adequate assistance. Visit the related web page
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