Red Cross launches conflict zone campaign

The Red Cross has launched its Civilians and Conflict month.

Civilians and Conflict Month is a media campaign in October 2008 to highlight our international tracing and message and refugee services in the UK, as well as overseas projects helping people recover from conflicts, like the child advocacy and rehabilitation programme in Sierra Leone.
Ros Armitage, operations manager for conflict, said: “During Civilians and Conflict Month, we want to challenge and change the public's perception of vulnerable people whose lives are affected by armed conflict, to tell their compelling human stories and to enable the British public to see beyond the stereotypes and help improve lives.”

The Red Cross announces that most people in UK can’t name major conflict zones, according to new survey. Most people in the UK are unaware of major conflict zones, according to a new survey by ICM commissioned by the British Red Cross. The survey was undertaken to establish levels of awareness amongst the British public ahead of the British Red Cross ‘Civilians and Conflict’ month, which launches today (1 October 2008). Respondents were able to name Afghanistan and Iraq as war zones, but more than 60 per cent mistakenly believed these countries had experienced the highest death toll amongst civilians of any conflict in the last ten years .

Less than one per cent of respondents identified the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where an estimated 5.4m people have died as a result of the country’s long running conflict .2
When asked to name countries currently experiencing conflict, while 69% and 65% of those questioned identified Iraq and Afghanistan respectively, less than 1% of respondents were able to identify other countries including Sudan, Somalia, and Central African Republic. Almost one in five (18%) were unable to name five countries in the world in conflict .

“Clearly people’s focus is on Iraq and Afghanistan where British forces are involved, but at the same time as these conflicts are unfolding, there are millions of people around the world whose lives are being torn apart in other, neglected conflict zones.“ said David Peppiatt, Head of Humanitarian Policy at the British Red Cross.
“Reports often focus on numbers dead or political ramifications, but behind every headline there are real people struggling to live against a background of violence. The impact of war on civilians is devastating - murder, sexual violence, displacement, disease, separation of families, lack of access to clean water and food – these are the punishments inflicted on ordinary people living in the aftermath of forgotten wars.”
On the positive side, just over half of those polled think that Britain has been a force for good in the world over the past 5 years. Also, most people (58%) correctly identified that civilians, rather than combatants, have suffered the highest number of casualties in armed conflicts over the last 10 years .

The Red Cross supports a wide range of projects to help people during and after armed conflicts, including relief and emergency aid, food security programmes, providing water and sanitation and their international tracing and message service which helps reunite those separated by conflict.

As part of Civilians and Conflict month, the British Red Cross is launching an online Alternate Reality Game (ARG) called Traces of Hope, which brings to life the work of the Red Cross’s International Tracing and Messaging Service. The game, written by one of the creators of the UK's biggest online drama series Kate Modern, challenges players to reunite a young man, Joseph, and his mother, who have been separated by conflict in Uganda. To join in the game, players can visit www.tracesofhope.com any time from September 29th to register. To find out more about the work of the Red Cross and Civilians and Conflict month go to www.redcross.org.uk.

Peace One Day

Founded in 1999, Peace One Day is a movement to create a sole calendar day dedicated to peace in the world. In 2001, Peace One Day was unanimously adopted by UN member states, formally establishing an annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence on the UN International Day of Peace. The day was fixed in the global calendar on 21 September - Peace Day. POD's main aim is to raise awareness of Peace Day 21 September. POD is a non-profit organisation, impartial and independent of any government, political persuasion, corporation or religious creed.In 2007 according to the UN, over 100 million people were active on Peace Day, in 192 countries. In 2007, the Peace One Day team organized a concert on Peace Day at the Royal Albert Hall in London headlining Annie Lennox with Yusuf Islam, Corinne Bailey Rae, James Morrison, Kate Nash, and Marc Almond. The concert also included specially filmed pieces from Jude Law, David Beckham, and Lord David Puttnam. Also included in Peace One Day's supporters are Stella McCartney, Marc Jacobs and Toby Mott, who each created t-shirts sold on the Peace One Day website. http://www.peaceoneday.org/

Introduction to peace

For every cause, there is an individual. Prospects for peace will try and find those individuals who are suitable for one of the worthiest causes - peace. For any organization out there that promotes peace, seeks to end wars or tries to help its victims, this blog is dedicated to you.