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COTE D'IVOIRE: Red Cross helps IDPs, supports fight vs yellow fever - Friday, September 21, 2001 |
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has given emergency supplies to 1,400 people of Malian origin living in five camps in Bouake, central Cote d'Ivoire, after being displaced by ethnic violence in the area around Lake Kossou, further to the south, ICRC said.
The violence flared up in August between indigenes and people of Malian origin who have lived as fishermen on the shores of the lake for over a generation. ICRC said thousands of people of Malian origin were forced to seek refuge in nearby cities. Most were accommodated by relatives or friends.
Meanwhile, the Ivorian Red Cross, supported by the International Federation of the Red Cross, is deploying 660 volunteers to help raise public awareness about yellow fever so that up to three million people can be vaccinated against the virus by 29 September, the Federation reported. It said it had
launched an appeal for 250,000 Swiss francs to buy vaccines and fund the public education campaign.
Five people have died from yellow fever and 72 confirmed cases of the virus have been registered in Abidjan, the economic capital. Participants in the vaccination campaign include the Red Cross, other NGOs, the Ministry of Health and UN agencies.
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