Loan and purchase conditions, prices and usage rights

The worst drought in a decade, soaring food prices and relentless insecurity could force thousands of Afghans from their homes this winter in search of food and work. The ICRC and Afghan Red Crescent Society are working hard to meet the needs of 280,000 people in the northern and north-western provinces.

On 10 August 2008, the Philippine armed forces and fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front resumed hostilities on the island of Mindanao. The ICRC immediately launched an emergency operation to help those forced to leave their homes by the fighting. So far, over 120,000 have received food, water and basic household items.

In 2001 following the breakdown in the truce between the government and the Maoists, 20 young men left home in Jogimara, Dhading District to work on an airport runway being built 800 km away in western Nepal. Seventeen of them never returned.

In Sri Lanka, 25 years of armed conflict between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have had serious humanitarian consequences for civilians throughout the country. Over the years many people have fled their homes, particularly in the conflict-affected areas in the north and east of the country, and families have become separated. The ICRC has been working in Sri Lanka for almost two decades, aiming to improve the situation of affected populations on both sides of the armed conflict - including the internally displaced, the wounded and the sick, separated families and detainees.

According to the Lao National Unexploded Ordnance Programme (UXO Lao), some 270 million cluster submunitions (bomblets, also commonly called "bombies" in Laos) were dropped on Laos in the 1960s and 1970s; approximately one third of these submunitions failed to explode and go on killing today. Photo feature from Xieng Khouang province, near the Vietnam border, where a wide range of deadly explosive remnants of war threatens the population.

As the clock counts down to Euro 2008 ™, the ICRC and UEFA have teamed up to help the survivors of landmines in Afghanistan through the www.scorefortheredcross.org campaign. Recently, a group of Afghan landmine victims organized a football match outside the ICRC's orthopaedic centre in Kabul to show their support for the charitable campaign.

After more than twenty years of being in the country, the ICRC is still providing a range of services to those affected by armed conflict in Afghanistan. These include supporting medical facilities, providing emergency assistance materials, visiting detainees, putting families back in touch and educating children about the dangers of unexploded munitions.

Ten years ago this December, the Mine-Ban Convention, or Ottawa Convention, was adopted by most of the world’s States. This photo essay explores some of the accomplishments and remaining challenges in one of the most heavily mined countries in the world.

This retrospective marks the 20th anniversary of the ICRC’s permanent presence in Afghanistan. It is meant to serve as a record of the unbearable suffering inflicted upon the Afghan people by 28 years of miserable war and as a tribute to their resilience.

The armed conflict in Sri Lanka has once again caused massive population displacements. Tens of thousands of men, women and children have been driven from their homes and forced to seek shelter in camps. Most of them were unable to take anything with them and lack even the most basic necessities.

A ceasefire in February 2002 led to hopes for peace in Sri Lanka, after many years of conflict between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). These hopes have been dashed in recent months as fighting resumed with a vengeance, prompting the ICRC to step up operations to help more than 60,000 displaced persons with essential relief items, water and medical supplies. This gallery captures the daily struggle of camp life for the displaced and the vital relief the ICRC brings.

For nine years the civilian population has had no respite from the conflict between government forces and insurgents of the Communist Party of Nepal – Maoist (CPN-M). The ICRC has endeavoured to perform its task of looking after the welfare of people protected by international humanitarian law while drawing the attention of bearers of weapons to their obligations under that body of law.