ABSTRACT
For 130 years, ICRC delegates have been bringing aid to victims of war on every continent. The suffering of prisoners, of civilians caught up in fighting, of starving people, and of soldiers mutilated by weapons which are sometimes prohibited are sadly familiar to them. The ICRC’s philosophy of humanitarian aid, as well as its mechan isms, have been tried and tested. Yet Tajikistan, tucked away in the heart of Central Asia, was and still is a challenge for the ICRC, as indeed are all the other States that have emerged from the former Soviet Union. It is a recent challenge, since the organization has only been active there since 1992; a challenge partly met by the humanitarian activities which it has been possible to carry out for the victims of the conflict and its aftermath; and, finally, a challenge for the future, in view of the tasks that the ICRC hopes to be able to undertake.
