Federico Fadiga in Buenos Aires
The secretary general of the International Federation, Didier Cherpitel, has seen in person some of the projects that are seeking to tackle the effects of the economic and social crisis in northern Argentina.
Cherpitel made an official three-day visit to Argentina on his way back from Chile, where he attended the XVII Inter-American Red Cross Regional Conference. He also visited Uruguay.
After meeting staff of the Argentine Red Cross (CRA) and the Federation’s sub-regional delegation in Buenos Aires, Cherpitel visited two of the most disaster-prone areas of the country, the provinces of Chaco and Corrientes, were the CRA is working with the support of the Federation.
Both provinces have been affected by serious floods in recent years, and are now benefiting from the Camalote programme for disaster preparedness and reduction. In addition to natural disasters, they have also been badly hit by the social crisis which has affected the north and centre of the country over the past two years. Child malnutrition, unemployment, social exclusion and land problems are matters of daily concern for people living in these area, while the health indicators are among the worst in Argentina.
On his trip to the provincial capitals, Corrientes and Resistencia, Cherpitel attended the inauguration of a multi-purpose community centre in Barrio Mapic, an indigenous neighbourhood close to Resistencia, and visited an CRA facility in Barrio Quinta Ferré, on the outskirts of Corrientes. Among those in attendance was the Italian government’s development agency, the main donor to the Federation’s international appeal for the social crisis.
The Corrientes complex, which started 12 years ago as a child and mother centre, assists almost 120 children under the age of four years every day, and organizes several parallel projects. CRA volunteers and nurses feed and monitor local children, who have a school in the centre. Around 80 children aged between six and 12 years are helped with their homework and can play in the courtyard, safe from risks they might face in the street.
Cherpitel and his delegation saw the workshops where around 50 people – often the mothers of the children who attend the centre – can do baking, electronics, hydraulic works and embroidery. Profits from these activities help to fund the centre, which also feeds and cares for over 70 senior citizens.
The visit was a great occasion for the local community in Barrio Quinta Ferré, as it was in Barrio Mapic, in Resistencia. The 768 people from this neighbourhood have a history of marginalization and poverty. They are all from the Toba ethnic group, one of the few indigenous minorities still living in Argentina.
Public services are extremely limited here, and the only electric light available is the one crossing the central road, to which private houses are precariously connected. The only source of drinking water is a small public pipe.
The CRA branch of Resistencia has been active in this neighbourhood since 2000, providing residents with community education on disaster preparedness and climate-related diseases under the Camalote programme, as well as first aid, hygiene, family planning and nutrition under the Social Crisis plan of action.
The Mapic centre is one of the 32 community centres benefiting from this plan. Almost 200 children aged between two and 14 are fed by its soup kitchen, while its rooms are also used for meetings and workshops organized both by the CRA and the neighbourhood.
During both visits, Cherpitel stressed the role volunteers play in such difficult situations, working closely with beneficiaries to address and solve every problems with limited means, while recognizing the different priorities and needs of communities.
The secretary general paid a special tribute to the role Italian Cooperation was playing in the social crisis appeal, as well as to the support being given by other national Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies worldwide.
The visit took place during the first hours of the floods which devastated the city and the province of Santa Fe. Cherpitel expressed the Federation’s and his personal concern about this catastrophe.
Related links:
Argentina: appeals, updates and reports
Argentine Red Cross
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