[women-rights] 8 March: Meeting the specific needs of women in war

***Learn more about International Women's Day, 8 March 2006:
http://www.hrea.org/feature-events/iwd.php

 
ICRC Press release
6-03-2006

Geneva (ICRC) -– Aiding victims of sexual violence in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, providing mother-and-child care in remote areas of
Pakistan-administered Kashmir, giving courses to female detainees in Yemen
to help them find their way in society after release – these are examples
of the commitment shown by the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) to carefully assessing and meeting the specific needs of women in
all aspects of its work.

In the run-up to International Women's Day, ICRC President Jakob
Kellenberger expressed his satisfaction that the organization's strategies
and field operations increasingly reflected an awareness of the special
problems, the particular vulnerabilities of women. Further progress was
needed, he cautioned. "Assessing and meeting these special needs should
become a spontaneous, automatic and lasting part of all our work."

Appropriate action requires a better understanding of what happens to
women when they are caught up in armed conflict and of the particular
vulnerabilities they face. That is why women's needs should be considered
as a separate issue. It is generally vital to use female staff to speak to
and work with women who have a low profile in society, far removed from
public life. For there is no better way to understand their reality,
respond adequately to their needs and otherwise improve their situation.

Coming to the aid of displaced women, giving medical care, helping female
amputees to walk again, visiting women detainees and putting them in touch
with their loved ones, these are all activities carried out by the ICRC to
support the neediest women and to promote the respect to which they are
entitled.