CRI Reporter Talks to Spokesman of the IFRC

Anchor: The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, are continuing the reconstruction process, in the quake-hit areas.

It has implemented an integrated program, in health, and financial and psychosocial support.

Our reporter Xu Qinduo talked to Francis Marcus, he's the agency's East Asia spokesman.

Q: From immediate rescue and recovery, the operation moved on inevitably moved on to one of long term provision, medical services for the local population. Given the scale, again, what were the priorities? What were the main challenges?

A: Obviously what everybody is focused on at the moment is the reconstruction process, of getting people into their new houses as quickly as possible, and of the reconstruction which is being supported by the Red Cross society of china and its affiliate the Red Cross foundation. I can tell you around 42 percent of the houses at least have been completed and another similar number, around 41-42 percent are in construction, so that's moving very, very fast now. We also have to focus on people who have not been able to be in a position to start reconstruction because, for example, they haven't been eligible for bank loans, now along with this reconstruction process.

Q: You mentioned the vulnerable households and individuals who cannot get the bank loans. Who are the people?

A: For example, those people who are too old to qualify for bank loans. Also there are households whose income doesn't put them in a position to get bank loans, plus also the disabled and injured, so a special group of people that we need to focus on, and I think these people are quite strongly represented among those who haven't yet been in a position to start construction. I mean obviously these are people whom the government will be concerned about and will be looking for ways of helping. We are also looking at ways of helping them as we roll out our construction support and programs, so I hope that the greatest number of these people can be assisted to not get left behind in the construction process.

Q:You already mentioned the ongoing efforts of the red cross. Now can you give us a brief overview of the ongoing operation in Sichuan in terms of what services you are providing and the number of staff involved?

A: The red cross society of China altogether is providing assistance to more than 70,000 households to rebuild their homes in Sichuan and Gansu and Shanxi altogether, and along with hundreds of schools, more than 2000 hospitals and clinics. For our part, the international federation is supporting 34,000 of the most vulnerable families that cannot get access to bank loans with the rebuilding of their houses. We don't have in the international federation a large operation here at all. We have around 10 international staff plus a Chinese support staff so we are quite small on the ground. But we are playing a part in channeling International assistance and in making sure that we can provide to the donors information and clarity on what their assistance is providing.

Q: The first year of the reconstruction is gone. What is the plan of the international red cross society?

A: We will be continuing the process of supporting the reconstruction of as many homes as we can. Our project area is in the area of Minzhu in Deyang Prefecture in Sichuan province. While many of the red cross societies from different countries are supporting the construction of schools and hospitals in Sichuan and Gansu and Shanxi. We will be continuing this process as well as rolling out our integrated program in the area of health and psychosocial support. And once the construction process has moved to completion, we will also look at ways to helping people to find new ways of making a living, to supporting their livelihoods because I think there are still vulnerabilities in these communities.

BACK ANCHOR: That was IFRC's Francis Marcus talking about the organization's work in China's earthquake areas.