MEDIA RELEASE
Released By:
Downer
I am pleased to announce the Australian Government has committed $2.3 million to the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) to help resettle the people of Bougainville.
The funding for the IFRC is part of the $100 million package of assistance to help Bougainville recover from nine years of conflict that I announced in August last year.
The signing of the Ceasefire Agreement provides Australia with the opportunity to move from emergency aid to helping people move back to their villages and to address some of the legacies of the war.
The International Federation of the Red Cross rehabilitation program aims to encourage people displaced by the conflict return to their traditional villages after many years of living in care centres and temporary villages set up during the crisis. The IFRC program will immediately deliver 700 village resettlement packs containing construction tools, building materials and gardening tools to all districts on the main island of Bougainville.
First aid posts and health centres will receive basic medical kits and community health workers will receive retraining and refresher courses. The program will also rehabilitate the water supply and reconstruct sanitary systems at 14 health centres.
Victims of the conflict will be provided with trauma counselling under the IFRC program. Teachers will be trained to identify and respond to children with social, learning or health problems resulting from the conflict.
The PNG Red Cross will also receive assistance to establish a permanent base on the island.
This funding follows a $4 million contribution to the IFRC by Australia in 1997 for emergency supplies which were delivered to 30,000 families in Bougainville.
I am pleased to note that the rehabilitation program has the support of all parties to the peace process: the Government of PNG, the Bougainville Transitional Government, the Resistance and the Bougainville Revolutionary Army/Bougainville Interim Government.
BOUGAINVILLE
Media contacts:
Innes Willox (Minister's office) 02 6277 7500/0411 414 695
Carol Haffke (AusAID) 02 6206 4966/0417 683 767