A. Liohn / ICRCNEWSLETTER

Issue No.13

ICRC NEWSLETTER- CONTENTS Column

1World Field News* Somalia* Central and Western Georgia/South Ossetia

2

Feature : The International Day of the Disappeared

4

Historical Relationship between Japan and the ICRC

6The Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement* International Humanitarian Law Workshop in Malaysia* Children’s Mental-care Needed in Devastated Areas

7

Updates from ICRC Tokyo* IHL events* ICRC Tokyo Office New Twitter Account* Launch of the "Health Care in Danger" campaign

8

By Yoshinobu Nagamine
Head of Office
Dear readers,
The first half of 2011 was marked by dramatic
crises throughout the world, both manmadeand natural, which have had significant andcontinuing humanitarian consequences.
Here at home, the Great Eastern Japan Disasteron the 11th of March left approximately
19,700 persons dead or missing, and left manyquestions open on the effects of nuclear
radiation leaks on human beings as well as theenvironment. Elsewhere, Africa and the Middle
East faced unprecedented social upheavals,
beginning with the first sparks of protest in
Tunisia. Meanwhile, another humanitarian

NEWSLETTER

disaster is about to unfold in Somalia wherearound 20 per cent of the people in the country,
already affected by conflict, now face famine
due to a severe drought.
The ICRC responded to these crises, as it always
strives to do, swiftly and appropriately. In
Libya the ICRC built an office up from scratch
to become one of its largest operations in theworld. As for Somalia, the ICRC has launched abudget extension appeal of CHF 67million, thebulk of which will go towards food assistance in
the Al-Shabab controlled area.
Mobilization of resources and immediatehumanitarian response are obviously heavily
dependent on political support for initiatives
aimed at building an environment of respect
for neutral and impartial action. Cognisantof this fact, States parties to the Geneva
Conventions and the entire Red Cross Red
Crescent Movement will come together at the
31st International Conference of the Red Cross
and Red Crescent, to be held this November in
Geneva. This event takes place every four years
and is the most comprehensive and largest
international Conference on humanitarian
issues.
A leading initiative on the agenda reflects the
ICRC's concern for the safety of medical missions
in times of conflict, based on an analysis ofviolent events in 16 operational contexts from2008 to 2010. Against this backdrop, on the
12th of August (the anniversary of the Geneva
Conventions), the ICRC working together
with Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
launched the four-year "Health Care in Danger"
campaign to raise awareness on the need toprotect medical missions and ensure access tohealth care even in times of conflict. To markthis campaign in Japan, the ICRC will seek
collaboration with partners sharing the same
concern.
Together with the "Health Care in Danger",another long-term project that will be discussed
at the Conference is the strengthening oflegal protection for victims of armed conflict.
Through a consultation process with a numberof States, ICRC has concluded that the current
legal framework of IHL is perceived to be weakin two specific areas, namely (a) the protection
for persons deprived of freedom and (b)implementation of international humanitarian
law and reparations for victims of violations.
The importance of diplomatic support fromall States for these, and other humanitarian
initiatives, cannot be understated. Thus, theICRC hopes that it will continue to be able tocount on Japan's support not only financiallybut also politically in fostering humanitariannorms and values.

Ras Lanuf, Libya.
Doctors evacuate a casualty from the fighting

Yerow Mohammed / ICRC

Mogadishu. Internally displaced persons arriving from the drought affected areas of Bay and Bakool.

World Field News

Field activities conducted out of 80 operations worldwide

Somalia

ICRC undertaking its largest ever relief
operation

Since October 2010, the ICRC has distributed
emergency supplies to half a million people
throughout Somalia and has delivered waterto almost one million. Also on 4th August, theorganization decided to scale up its emergency
operation in central and southern Somalia toassist an additional 1.1 million drought- andconflict-affected people.

The ICRC in Somalia

Its activities and history

The ICRC has been working in Somalia since1977 when it responded to the crisis that arosefrom the war between Ethiopia and Somalia.
Since 1982 it has maintained a presence inSomalia, basing its delegation in Nairobi since
1994.
Somalia – one of the ICRC's largest operations –remains in the grip of a full-blown humanitariancrisis. Fighting between government forces
backed by African Union troops (AMISOM) and
opposition groups, and among the groups
themselves, is dragging on, raising concerns

2

The ICRC is asking donors for CHF 67 million
in additional funding, bringing its total 2011budget for Somalia to over 120 million francs.
"The move comes in response to a situationthat is becoming ever more desperate," said
Jakob Kellenberger, the president of the ICRC.
"Hundreds of thousands of Somalis face lifethreatening food and water shortages."

Malnutrition brings children to the brinkof death

about the population's security to new levels.
Hundreds of thousands of Somalis have been
displaced and millions continue to depend on
humanitarian assistance.
Against this background the ICRC has stepped
up its relief operations, concentrating its
operational presence where armed clashes
are recurrent and essential services are nonexistent. Key roles are helping internallydisplaced people to set up makeshift homes,delivering relief goods and food rations to themost needy, providing health care and carryingout small-scale water, agricultural and cash-forwork projects designed to restore or improve
livelihoods and improve economic security incommunities weakened by crises.

Levels of malnutrition have reached a new peak
and are currently the highest in the world, said
the ICRC at the beginning of July. In some partsof Somalia, the number of children with severe
acute malnutrition has almost doubled since
March.
"A dramatic increase in cases of malnutrition
can be observed even in the Bay and Lower
Shabelle regions, usually described as thecountry's breadbaskets, where nearly 11 percent of children under five suffer from severe
acute malnutrition," said Andrea Heath, theThe ICRC works closely with and provides
substantial support to the Somali Red CrescentSociety（SRCS), the ICRC’s main operational
partner. Together the two organizations
distribute relief goods and help to reunite
families separated by conflict or natural disasterby using the Red Cross Message system, its
familylinks website and radio broadcasts.
To ensure those wounded by weapons receive
appropriate medical care, the ICRC supports
two surgical referral hospitals in Mogadishu,
as well as other medical facilities within andoutside the capital. The organization also
supports 36 SRCS primary health care andmother-and-child clinics serving over 500,000
people countrywide.

Launch of new health care programme
The ICRC and the Somali Red Crescent havestarted to expand services in existing outpatienttherapeutic feeding centres and health carefacilities. In central and southern Somalia, theICRC has provided over 250,000 people withhousehold essentials and made clean water
available for 400,000 people since April.
The budget extension will enable the ICRC
to further expand its therapeutic feeding
programmes and its food distributions to help
people get by during the extremely difficult

Central and Western Georgia/South Ossetia
Three years after the conflict : shift fromemergency assistance to self-sufficiency
support program

Three years after the end of hostilities in August
2008, people are still feeling the effects of theconflict, particularly those living along theadministrative boundary lines (ABL). The ICRC
remains the only international humanitarianorganization operating on both sides of the ABL.
Although the majority of the people who
fled the August 2008 hostilities have returned
home or have settled in new accommodation,
thousands are still displaced and are living incollective centres or government settlements.
Some of the centres housing displaced peopleurgently need refurbishing, but are not coveredby government schemes or other organizations’programmes. People who have returned also
face difficult living conditions because of theperiod until the next harvest in December.
Some 49,000 malnourished children and 24,000
pregnant and lactating women will benefit fromthe supplementary and the therapeutic feeding
programmes.
"In the central and southern parts of thecountry especially, where only a small numberof humanitarian organizations are present
on the ground, the need for aid cannot be
overstated," said Kellenberger. "Despite thedifficulty of operating in one of the mostconflict-riven countries in the world, we cannot
let people down. We are confident that we
can deliver assistance successfully, in close
cooperation with our partners from the Somali
Red Crescent."

worsening economic situation.
The almost total closure of the ABL makes
everyday life difficult, restricting access torelatives on the other side, to health services, tosocial benefits and to markets – a major sourceof income for many. Life is particularly hard forelderly people, who have little income and no
relatives nearby.
To deal with this situation, during the period
between 2008 and 2011, the ICRC has provided
agricultural supplies and other assistance,
funded micro- economic initiatives andimplemented water and sanitation projects.
Acting as a neutral intermediary, the ICRC has
also facilitated medical evacuations, family
reunions and family visits to places of detention.
Following the emergency phase, in the aftermathof the August 2008 conflict, the ICRC gradually
moved to activities aimed at helping vulnerable
people recover economic self-sufficiency andsupporting the authorities in maintaining
essential infrastructure and services.

Afghanistan
Pierre Krähenbühl, the director of operationsof the ICRC, was in Afghanistan for a five-day
visit in early July during which he has met
with national and international leaders andofficials and with members of the armed
opposition to share the ICRC's concerns forthe civilian population at a time when thearmed conflict is entering a new phase.

South Sudan
South Sudan became the 193rd state in theworld in July, bringing to a close a decadeslong saga of conflict and painstaking
negotiations. One implication of this historic
event is the creation of a new nationalsociety, the South Sudan Red Cross Society(SSRCS), derived from what were once thesouthern branches of the Sudanese Red
Crescent Society (SRCS).

ICRC

ICRC's economic-security coordinator for
Somalia.

North Darfur, Sudan. A general from the Sudanese
armed forces signs the handover certificate confirmingthat he has received detainees transported by the ICRC.

Iraq
An estimated one million women in Iraq
must shoulder the burden of caring for theirfamilies alone because their husbands havebeen killed, arrested or disabled by war
injuries, or have gone missing. Around 70 per
cent of them spend more than they earn.
The ICRC has supported these women since2009. This year it will give financial support
around 6,000 women and next to tide themover until they start to receive benefits fromthe social welfare system.

Libya
On August 24th, the ICRC helped 33
journalists and two other foreign nationals
leave the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli and led themto safety. The ICRC, which operates a hotline
for journalists on dangerous assignments,
had been contacted by several news
organizations concerned about the safety
and well-being of their staff.

K. Sorin / ICRC

Philippines
Safe drinking water is now only a few steps
away for over 1,200 residents of Mabini,a remote community in Northern Samarprovince, after the completion of a springcatchment built with support from the ICRC.

Koda, Shida Kartli, Georgia. Murtaz and his neighbours are able to feed their families thanks to the timber workshop they set up under the ICRC’s micro-economic initiative programme.
3Feature The International Day of the Disappeared
Documentary:"It's the silence that kills!"
To m ar k t h e i n t e r n a t i o n al d a y o f t h edisappeared on 30 August, the ICRC has
produced and published materials such as
TV news feature, feature articles, and films, tohighlight the plight of families of the Missing
in connection with armed conflicts or otherviolences.

The challenge for the authorities to recover,identify and hand over the remains to enquiring
families is enormous. Colombia is one of very
few countries which is attempting to investigate
cases of missing persons while the conflict isstill ongoing.

Wish to Know the Fate of the Loved Ones
In a suburb of Bogotá, Sandra lives with her 9year old son Bryan. The walls of Sandra’s small
flat are lined with proudly framed diplomas
and photographs of her husband Francisco in
his army uniform. She hasn’t seen her husband
since October 2008. It was five months laterthat she finally got the news that he is missing.
Since then, Sandra has had no firm information
about what happened to her husband. There
have been plenty of rumours – he was last seen
in a running battle between the Colombian Armyand a guerrilla group but no one can tell her forsure if he was killed or taken prisoner. A year ago,
a body was found that fitted his description, but
the DNA test turned out to be negative.

J.Powell / ICRC

Here we f o cus e d on Colombia , whereapproximately 58,000 people have beenregistered missing over the last ten years,
and where the armed conflict is still ongoing.
Actually, most of them were registered in thesethree years, which many previously unknown
clandestine graves have also been revealed,leading to an ever increasing list of unclaimed,unknown and unidentified dead.

Elias and Julia, looking at the picture of their missing son

Sandra hangs on to the hope that her husband
might still be alive somewhere. While themonths go by, she tries to keep up pressure on
the authorities to continue the investigation.
But time passes slowly, and it is hard to hang on
to hope with no news. "It’s the silence that kills,"
she says through her tears.
In a rural village in the northern province ofUrabá, another woman, Julia, describes her last
memories of her 19 year old son Luis. Julia andher husband Elias show the only photo they
have of their son, a small passport size pictureof a smiling young man. They last saw him in
December 2010 on a day when, as usual, hewent off to work on the farm. They suspect hejoined an armed group active near their home.
"The young people today listen to their friends,
not their parents," say the couple.
It was nine months after Luis went missing that
Julia and her husband heard that their son had
been killed in a clash with the army. They have
had no proof of his death and they desperately
want to find out what happened to him. "If heis really dead, I want to bury his body and takeflowers to his grave," Julia weeps.

scale of the task seems overwhelming. "Moreand more people are reporting losses of family
members, and more and more bodies are being
recovered. We could work 24 hours a day,"saysthe Institute's Director, Dr. Carlos Eduardo
Valdes Moreno. The identification process islong and complex and it's like a maze for thefamilies. The language is bureaucratic and hardto understand and months can go by with noinformation.
The ICRC works with individual families, helping
them to negotiate this complex process. It also
works closely with state institutions such as the
Forensic Institute, to strengthen their capacity torespond. The families searching for information
about missing loved ones need regular
information in terms they can understand. They
need to be told why it takes time, what thedifficulties are, and what to expect. They must
be respected by the authorities and they alsoneed support to get through this ordeal.

Skeletal remains are examined and documented - a vital part of theidentification process at the National Forensic Institute in Bogotá
4

For many families, the search will end at
Colombia's National Forensic Institute in Bogotá,
where the remains of unidentified bodies arebrought for identification. There is no questionthat the will to respond to the thousands ofrequests for identification is here, but the sheer

J.Powell / ICRC

J.Powell / ICRC

Needs to Provide Regular Information in
Understandable Terms

DNA testing at Colombia's National Forensic InstituteL.Virginie / ICRC
North Darfur, Sudan. Lists of children without their parents and the missings, explaining ICRC's Restoring Family Links Activity

Rights to Know the Whereaboutsof the Missing Family
Every year, countless families are split up andstruggling to find out information of the missing
people. Under international humanitarian law
and international human rights law, people
have the right to know the fate of a missing
relative. People suffer terribly when they lose
contact with their family or not knowing thefate of their loved ones. "To keep on waiting
without such information is a torture" the familyof the missing says.

Continuing Humanitarian Supports Even
After the Conflict
Providing support for the families of missing

people is a priority for the ICRC, which strives tomake sure that their needs are met. When thefamilies request it to do so, the ICRC undertakes
to collect information, often through a complex
and lengthy process. In several countries, thisinvolves the participation of National Red Cross
or Red Crescent Societies.
"There is rarely a quick resolution to thesecases, but a strong political will and a highdegree of accountability towards the familiesof missing persons can help speed up theprocess" said Oliveir Dubois, deputy head of
the Central Tracing Agency and Protection
Division of the ICRC. "States have an obligation
under international humanitarian law to takeall feasible measures to account for people
who went missing, and to give families all theinformation they obtain. The ICRC is calling on

States that have not yet done so to sign, ratify
and implement the International Convention
for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced
Disappearance."
Once a conflict finishes, the issue of the missing
is treated as that of personal, and therefore
often not considered. In 2003, with the aim offocusing this overlooked tragedy and raising
the consciousness of this issue throughout theinternational society, the ICRC organised aninternational conference to discuss about the
problem. Living without knowing what has
happened to their loved ones is an agony. In
a view, a proof of death is important for thefamily to move on to the next stage and live
properly. As long as those who struggle withthe painful everyday life exist, the ICRC willcontinue to support them, even if the war ends.

Africa : Eritrea, Ethiopia and Senegal
The Americas : Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru
Europe : A rmenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Georgia, the Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia, the Russian Federation and Serbia (Kosovo)
Asia and the Pacific : East Timor, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal and Sri Lanka
Middle East and North Africa : Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon and disappearances
relating to the Western Sahara conflict

Jaime Razuri / AFP

The ICRC is currently working to account for those who went missing in the following countries
and regions:

Peru. Brother and sister reunited, supported by the ICRC
5Historical Relationship between Japan and the ICRC
A new historical series about Japan-ICRC relationshipIn cooperation with Red Cross Societies
including the Japanese Red Cross Society, theICRC worked to ensure that POWs and detained
civilians were equally treated; that no retaliation
took place against prisoners; that they werepermitted to walk around; that they were
repatriated to their home countries, and so on.

The ICRC's Central Agency for POWs in Japan
Japan, which took part in the First World War asa member of the Allied Forces, together with
Britain, attacked and surrounded Shandong
province in China, which was then under thecontrol of Germany. Germany surrendered on
7th November 1918 and some 4,697 POWs
were eventually sent to Japan for internment.
On 15th August 1914, the ICRC informed all Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies throughout
the world of the opening of the "The Central
Agency for POWs", which began operations on
21st August. Activities included monitoring of
the condition of camps, providing families of
POWs and detained civilians with informationand transfer of money and relief items fromthe families to those detained. The Agency
also played the role of a mediator by making
POW lists available, recorded the details of eachindividual on cards and dispatched staff to

Osaka hospital. "A Report of Relief Activities
During the First World War, Volume 1-20 by F.
Paravicini" was later submitted to the Japanese
Red Cross Society, the Department of JapaneseArmy and the ICRC. Several recommendations
were made in this report, including the proposalthat sick and wounded soldiers should bepermitted to carry out something meaningful.
Thus Paravicini focused on cultural activities in
the camps, such as music, art and craftwork.

POW's Contribution to Cultural Exchange

The typing department of the ICRC Central Agency for POWs employs
about 100 persons to carry out its tracing and restoring family links service.

Visits to POWs in JapanThe first visit to POW camps in Japan by the
ICRC took place during the First World War.
The Japanese Red Cross Society established
a committee for the relief of POWs, which
managed the communication bet ween
the Japanese imperial information officeof POW and the Central Agenc y of theICRC. Collaboration amongst these threeorganisations was successful in restoring
communication between POWs and theirfamilies.
In May 1918, the ICRC assigned Dr. Fritz
Paravicini, who was a Swiss doctor living in
Yokohama, Japan, to visit POWs in Japan.
Dr. Paravicini became so deeply involved inJapanese contexts that he was appointed the
ICRC's Head of Delegation in Japan during theSecond World War.

POWs were encouraged to inform the Japanese
government what kinds of skills they possessed
and which could be of use to the country. This
resulted in transfer of technology and exchangeof cultural influences. For example, there wasa German commissioned who was familiar
with rubber processing. In collaboration witha Japanese factory which had manufactured
rubber sole socks, they tried to make tires; thiseventually was the origin of the Bridgestone Tire.
In another example, there was a European
confectionery shop manager who was captured
in Tsingtao, China and sent to Japan. He became
the founder of Juchheim Co., Ltd, which now
has many branches in Japan. Karl Juchheim thus
helped to make German confectionery such as
Baumkuchen a familiar cake to Japanese.
It was also at theBando camp whereB e e t h o v e n' s 9 t hSymphony and
Destiny were firstplay e d in Jap an.
More episodes
in c amp s w ill b e
introduced nex ttime.

He visited all 8 camps in Japan in the earlysummer of 1918, as well as the Hiroshima
military hospital and the Japanese Red Cross

ICRC

During the First World War (1914-1918), the Red
Cross carried out the largest relief operationsin its history. In each country which took
part in the war, the ICRC regularly visitedinternment camps, consistently requesting that
improvements be made regarding hygiene
and that Prisoners of War (POWs) be treatedaccording to international law. The ICRC also
traced missing soldiers and restored contact
between those who were captured or missing
and their families or friends.

monitor the welfare of POWs. By 31st December
1919, when the Agency ended its operations,the number of cards had totalled 4,895,000 andthe number of parcels which the Agency had
sent to prisoners was 1,884,914. The cards arestill stored at ICRC headquarters in Geneva.

ICRC

The ICRC during
the First World War

A list of POWs published by the JapaneseImperial Information Office in June 1917.

Reference : Compiled and Translated by Shiro Okawa "Oubeijin Horyo to Sekijuji Katsudo – Paravicini Hakase no Fukken" Ronso-sha, 2005 Tadamasa Fukiura "Horyo no Bunmeishi" Shincho-sensho, 1990
Kyoichi Tateishi and Haruhiko Shuku 'Kenkyu-note Seifu oyobi Gun to ICRC tou tono Kankei' from "Bouei Kenkyu-jo Kiyou" Vol.11 No.1 p69-p125 Bouei-sho Bouei Kenkyu-jo, November, 2008
Andre Durand "History of the International Committee of the Red Cross, from SARAJEVO to HIROSHIMA", Henry Durant Institute Geneva,1984.
"The International PRISONER-OF-WAR Agency-The ICRC in World War One-" ICRC, 2007.
1863 E stablishment of the International Committee forRelief to the Wounded1877 t he battles of the Southwestern Rebellion
Establishment of Philanthropic Society

1864 Signing on the First Geneva Convention

1886 S igning of the Secomd Geneva Convention

1867 The first Red Cross International Conference Paris

1887 Renamed JRCS Joined in ICRC

1941 the Pacific War
1942 E stablishment of representative office of ICRC in
Japan

World Expo

1894 Japanese-Sino War

1871 Iwakura Mission

1904 Japanese-Russo War

1873 V ienna World Expo Meeting of Iwakura Mission

1914 World War 1

1949 Establishment of Four Geneva Conventions

and Moynier, the Chairman of the International

1919 Establishment of IFRC

1953 Accedence of Japan to four Geneva Conventions

Committee for Relief to the Wounded.

1920 Three JRCS nurses receive prized Nightingale

1977 Establishment of two Protocols

1876 R enamed the International Committee of Red
Cross

Medal
1931 Manchurian Incident
1937 Sino-Japanese War

6

1939 World War 2

1945 A tomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki War’send2004 Accedence of Japan to two Protocols
2009 Establishment of Japan Office of ICRCThe Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
Activities of/with the Japanese Red Cross Society & the International Federation of RC/RC

International Humanitarian only speaking about the proper use of the Red motivated me to share ideas with otherparticipants of how they planned to utilise
emblem, but also letting people know
Law Workshop in Malaysia Cross
the facts learnt in this workshop in their homethat the emblem itself indirectly, but surely,
An opportunity to reaffirm the significanceof humanitarian law

Atsuko Tamai
Japanese Red Cross Society
I had the opportunity to participate in SEATS,
the South East and East Asian Teaching Session
on International Humanitarian Law (IHL),
organised by the ICRC, as a representative of
the Japanese Red Cross Society. This annual
event, which gathered together 30 people from10 countries, was held in Kuala Lumpur from25th to 30th July.

for this reason, familiarise the emblem by not

These discussions within small groups highly

protects human life; thus misuse of the emblem
minimises its value.

countries. They also allowed for the buildingof relationships between participants, whichbecame a stepping stone to our ultimate goal
– to globally spread the knowledge of IHL, I
believe.

As for the correct legal definitions of “civilian”
or “non-combatant,” I learnt a lot throughdiscussions and a series of case studies. IHL
itself functions on the premise of differentiating
between civilians (non-combatants) andcombatants; the former are always subject toprotection, whereas the latter are not in warfare
situations. We discussed the matter of whether
or not carriers of a bomb should be interpreted
as “taking direct participation in hostilities”, also
whether a weapons dealer is a combatant or
not and the like. During the discussions, there
was a wide variety of interpretations of thesequestions and many participants had a hardtime giving clear-cut answers of 'yes' or 'no'.

Muhammad Syafiq / National University of Malaysia

SEATS was designed to provide people fromvarious backgrounds ranging from lawyers,scholars, government officials to military
personnel with an opportunity to cultivate abetter understanding of IHL as well as to acquire
the necessary skills to view humanitarian
challenges through its lens.

My view of IHL and its importance changed
over the course of the workshop. Previously,
I did not know much in detail about IHL andhow it functions, but now I have realised that
it is certainly no exaggeration to suggest that
it is essentially important for nations to be
familiarized with IHL. My next challenge is tospread knowledge of IHL in Japan – a country inwhich people no longer expect to experience awar.

The only topic which I was already familiar withwas the proper use of the Red Cross emblem.
Since the Red Cross emblem symbolises"Don't Attack”, the Japanese Red Cross Society
consistently calls on external parties not to use
it as a logo or place it on signboards in public
space. Regrettably, however, the significanceof the emblem and humanitarian law are notwidely known in Japan; therefore the publicdoes not realise its essential purpose. We must,

Opening ceremony of the workshop

The earthquake disaster bruises children. The
Japanese Red Cross Society launched a project
named the “KIDS CROSS project” in order tosupport those mentally bruised through theearthquake disaster in both health care andeducational facets.
The first project took place at Yamada Kinder
garden in Iwate Prefecture on 11th July. Parents
attended a workshop aimed to equip themwith knowledge of emotional care. "Kids havementally shocked with the earthquake. In

some cases, even parents or teachers cannot
notice their hidden mind." Ms. Mikako Sasaki,
director of the kinder garden pointed out thedifficulty of how to treat kids. The lecturer, Ms.
Sachiko Abe, a nurse from JRC Iwate chapter
advised that “Please listen carefully to children,
especially when they talk about their disaster
experiences. It may heal children from traumatic
events and experiences."
After the workshop, one of the attendees Ms.
Mayumi Ito said that "My youngest daughterin 4 years old gets nervous even with small
sounds. My son still keeps telling me about
the day of the earthquake. Through today's
workshop, I understood the importance tolisten to them more carefully."

The Japanese Red Cross Society continues togive various supports for children in devastatedareas – Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefecture.

JRCS

Children’s Mental-care
Needed in Devastated Areas

Children learning about hyperthermia prevention by colouring
7

Updates
From
ICRC Tokyo

Participants debating at the Hong Kong competition (2010)

Competition details
Date:		Saturday, December 3, 2011
Place:		
The Japanese Red Cross Academy (Hiroo campus)
Participants:	Under graduates and graduates (excluding PhD level) of universities in Japan. Each teamwill consist of 4 students (a team of mixed university representatives is acceptable)
Fee:		
Free of charge
Language:
EnglishApplications:
1st September to 1st October 2011
Organizers:
ICRC, ILSEC, the Japanese Red Cross Academy
Supported by:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan Federation of Bar Association, the Japanese Red Cross Society
Contacts:		ILSEC HP (http://kokusaiho.aquasky.jp/humanitarianlaw/index.htm)
Observers are welcome; please submit your request in advance

ICRC Tokyo Office:First IHL course
New Twitter Account to be held in JapanICRC Tokyo has set up its twitter account (@icrc_tok) providing up-to-date information
regarding ICRC activities around the worldand events in Japan, as well as daily tweets byeach staff on the work they do. Readers areencouraged to follow entries. Retweeting is also
highly welcome.

Head of Tokyo Office

Political Officer

Secretary/Administrator

Communication AssistantCommunication Officer

Many students in Japan are interested in peacebuilding and conflict settlement, and willing towork for international organizations. However,
only a limited number of national universities
presently offers a course featuring IHL.
Catering to this need, the ICRC, Osaka Schoolof International Public Policy and Graduate
School of International Cooperation Studies,
Kobe University, are jointly organizing the first
IHL course in Japan from 19 to 22 September at
Osaka University. Facilitated by IHL experts inJapan, ICRC legal advisors and practitioners, thecourse is designed for graduate students andyoung scholars majoring in IHL.
The opening lecture on “IHL and Japan'srole" will be delivered by Director General,
International Legal Affairs Bureau of the Ministryof Foreign Affairs, Mr. Yasumasa Nagamine.
Students can also look forward to listening toexperts speak on a range of subjects, including
IHL and Multinational Forces, IHL and Human
Rights Law, Responsibilities of the Nation/
Individuals at War.

ICRC Tokyo Office
Toranomon40MT Bldg. 6F, 5-13-1 Toranomon
Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0001 Japan
TEL : +81(0)3-6459-0750 / FAX : +81(0)3-6459-0751
Website : http://www.jrc.or.jp/ICRC/

Launch of the "Health Carein Danger" campaign
In August, 2011, the International Red Cross
and Red Crescent Movement launched its fouryear campaign, "Health Care in Danger". This
project aims to encourage governments andother stakeholders to play their part in securing
effective and impartial health care fromunlawful violence during conflict and hostilities.
ICRC Tokyo will post updates on the campaign
as well as information on related events coorganized by the Japanese Red Cross Society in
its website and newsletters.

Catalina Martin-Chico / COSMOSThe ICRC, the International Law Student
Exchange Committee (ILSEC) and the Japanese
Red Cross Academy will jointly organise
the National Round of the IHL Moot Court
Competition in December. As is the norm, theMoot Court will feature a case study which willbe the subject of debate by participants divided
into two opposing teams – the prosecutor andthe defendant. Through role play, this interscholastic competition aims to raise awarenessof IHL amongst students beyond not only booklearning but also practical law. The winner of the
National Round will represent Japan at the 10th
Asia and the Pacific Red Cross IHL Moot Court
Competition in Hong Kong in March, 2012.

ICRC

National Round of the
IHL Moot Court Competition

Ambulances take huge risks during armed conflicts to reach and transport
the wounded and can fall victim to stray bullets. (2011, Yemen)