WOMEN WHO SURVIVED SREBRENICA
COMMEMORATE ITS FALL
OTHERS SHOW SOLIDARITY

On July 11th, in Bosnia, several thousand women, who lost male relatives,
participated in a rally to commemorate the fall of Srebrenica. Tuzla was the
site of the event because it is where those who had been forced to flee one
year earlier, first took refuge. The event began at 1:00 p.m., which is the
time the women say when they were told in Srebrenica, that they had five
minutes to board the buses to leave.

The survivors, embroidered squares of cloth with the names of their missing
boys and men. The squares were tied together in a huge banner. The event was
sponsored by women from all over the world including Swanee Hunt, Ambassador
to Austria; Queen Noor of Jordan and E.U. Commissioner Emma Bonino.

That same day, to mark this anniversary and highlight the atrocities of the
Bosnian conflict as well as its impact on the most vulnerable - women and
children - a full page ad was placed in The International Herald Tribune. As
an expression of solidarity, it was signed by hundreds of prominent women
from other countries. The Bosnian women were most moved by the assertion,
"You are not alone."

The ad also included an appeal for donations to the International Rescue
Committee to develop programs to meet the women's many needs. To date $3
million has been raised and donations of medicines have been received from
The Royal Kingdom of Jordan and Eli Lily Company.

IRC-Tuzla is distributing the medicines in Tuzla, Banovici, Zivince,
Lukavac, Srebrenik and Gracanica where more than 95 percent of the displaced
population from Srebrenica and Zepa ( another safe-area that succumbed) is
now being housed. The majority of the 30,000 mostly women and children,
originally from Srebrenica and Zepa, are living in collective centers, while
50,000 others in the area who were driven from their homes are in private
accommodations.

Through agreements with the Ministerial Representative for Municipal Dom
Zdravljas (health centers in the region), IRC will distribute medicines to
those health centers closest to the collective centers, as well as health
centers located within close proximity to large numbers of refugees and
displaced persons living in private accommodations. Physicians working in
these centers will prescribe medication as needed, for the women.

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