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Work of
Intergovernmental and Nongovernmental organizations
INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED
CROSS (ICRC)
The ICRC has been mandated by the international community to
"work for the faithful application of humanitarian law applicable
in armed conflicts". Its role is to protect the civilian
population; visit prisoners and detainees; provide emergency medical
and food aid and rehabilitation services; restore contact between
separated family members and facilitate family reunification; and
promote knowledge of international humanitarian law. The ICRC often
exerts influence discreetly, in direct contact with the parties, but
can also decide to go public when confidentiality does not achieve the
desired results. Its role in the protection of civilians and other
non-combatants is particularly important because it usually enjoys the
respect of all the parties to a conflict.
Under various resolutions adopted since
the early 1920s, later strengthened by provisions of the Fourth Geneva
Convention, the ICRC has traditionally paid special attention to the
plight of the elderly (which it defines as those over 65). Its Plan
of Action for the years 2000-2003, adopted by the 27th
International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, contains a
number of measures intended to improve the care and protection of
victims of armed conflicts and more generally of the most vulnerable
people, including the elderly.
In a statement made to
the Conference, the ICRC expressed particular concern over the
situation of the elderly in the former USSR, the Balkans and Eastern
Asia since the end of the cold war, where economic vulnerability is
exacerbated by violent conflict, isolation and physical handicaps. The
report describes protection and assistance measures to the elderly,
including family reunification, by components of the International Red
Cross and Red Crescent Movement in recent and ongoing conflicts in
Abkhazia, Chechnya, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Kosovo. In
addition, help was given in obtaining the release of elderly detainees
in Cambodia, Tajikistan, Rwanda andColombia; and in facilitating
evacuation of elderly persons from areas where their security could
not be guaranteed in Congo-Brazzaville, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Additional information on the work of ICRC can be found on its
website, www.icrc.org
UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR
REFUGEES (UNHCR)
The UNHCR is the main international agency established for the
protection of refugees. As the armed conflicts of the past decade have
generated ever increasing flows of refugees, the agency has also
assumed an important role in providing relief assistance. On the
occasion of the International Day of Older Persons in 1997, the High
Commissioner recognized that "The elderly are among the most
invisible group of refugees and displaced persons" and pledged to
increase UNHCR's efforts at improving awareness, policy planning and
projects for older refugees.
A subsequent evaluation entitled UNHCR Assistance to Older
Refugees, based on surveys and field visits in Bosnia,
Croatia, Egypt, Russia, Sudan and Yemen, identified problems and
proposed solutions for the agency's work. The study recommends
mainstreaming the needs and potential contribution of older refugees
in existing programs rather than setting up special mechanisms.
Together with the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO), UNHCR
also commissioned a study of older persons in emergencies undertaken
by HelpAge International (HAI). The study, entitled The Ageing
World and Humanitarian Crisis: Guidelines for Best Practice,
addresses situations of armed conflict as well as natural disasters,
and is based on interviews with older refugees in Bangladesh,
Dominican Republic, Rwanda and Bosnia and with the agencies serving
them. It has helped formulate guidelines and indicators for the work
of humanitarian agencies in all sectors from health to shelter. The
study emphasizes the importance of inclusion of older persons in
existing mechanisms rather than the establishment of separate
services.
In 2000, UNHCR adopted a new Policy on Older Refugees
(EC/50/SC/CRP.8, Annex I) inspired by the commitments and principles
adopted by governments towards older persons. The policy identifies
the severe plight of older refugees resulting from social
disintegration and family separation, lack of support, abandonment and
destitution; it provides for a variety of measures to ensure the
incorporation of age-sensitive protection and assistance criteria in
addressing the needs and vulnerabilities of older persons, and
ensuring their participation in existing programs.
As a tool for policy planning and implementation, UNHCR has also begun
collecting statistics on older refugees (defined as those over 60). A
2001 report entitled Women, Children and Older Refugees: The Sex
and Age Distribution of Refugee Populations with a Special Emphasis on
UNHCR Policy Priorities, estimates that approximately 10% of
the 15 million refugees of concern to the agency in 115 countries, are
older persons.
Many NGOs active in areas of armed conflict are partners with UNHCR.
The current Field Guide for NGOs includes a chapter on
older refugees to ensure that their needs are taken into account in
the work of these organizations.
Additional information on the work of UNHCR can be found on its
website, www.unhcr.ch
UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES IN
THE NEAR EAST (UNRWA)
Well over three fourths of the
Palestinian population (about 800,000 people) fled or was driven from
the country during the war which resulted in the establishment of the
state of Israel in 1948. The original Palestinian refugees and their
descendants are the largest single refugee population in the world,
numbering over 4 million in Jordan, Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic,
the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. UNRWA was established in 1949 as the
primary UN agency to provide education, health, and relief and social
services to the refugees pending a final settlement of the conflict.
The agency compiles comprehensive statistics on the refugee
population, and estimates that approximately 12% of the total are over
the age of 55. The agency does not list special programs for these
older refugees in its documentation, which can be found on its
website, www.un.org/unrwa
Prepared by the International Human Rights Education Group for Global
Action on Aging (ihredu@yahoo.com)
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