Ingushetia

Life in Ingushetia
Throughout the war between Chechnya and the Russian Republic, the crisis unfolding for in Ingushetia, Chechnya’s impoverished neighbor, went largely ignored. During the height of the war, Ingushetia’s population doubled as it tried to absorb thousands of Chechens fleeing the violence in their republic. An estimated 25,000 Chechens still live in Ingushetia today, but in 2006, regional authorities began shutting down the largest refugee camps to repatriate Chechens into temporary shelters. This process lessened the strain on Ingushetia’s host communities, but the displaced and host populations still are in desperate need of assistance in order to recover.

Helping Communities Help Themselves
Bringing Relief
International Medical Corps (IMC) began its work in Ingushetia in 2000 to help host communities better absorb the thousands of Chechens crossing its border. While the number of refugees has been reduced, IMC now focuses on helping Ingushetia’s development through the following services:

• Primary health care
• Mental health and psychosocial support
• Maternal and child care
• Sexual and gender-based violence support, awareness, and prevention
• Economic livelihoods training
• Civil society strengthening

In addition to providing health care for Chechen refugees and Ingush host communities, International Medical Corps also helps individuals and communities to develop businesses, including sewing workshops and cattle and sheep farms, and provides income generating activities, such as water supply system repairs.

International Medical Corps is also implementing a sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) program in rural areas of Ingushetia to provide support for those affected. Given the highly sensitive nature of SGBV issues in the North Caucasus, IMC is working to mobilize awareness in the community, treat victims, and prevent new cases from occurring.

Enabling Self-Reliance
International Medical Corps’ training and education programs in Ingushetia are designed to provide internally displaced persons and the unemployed with the skills they need to generate income. Training and education programs implemented in Ingushetia:
• Train health care workers to provide primary health care through IMC-supported health posts
• Enable sexual and gender-based violence activists to mobilize their communities against rape and domestic abuse
• Mobilize communities to manage and implement income generating activities
• Empower Ingush youth with life and professional skills training in areas such as public health education, occupational skills training, and NGO and business management

To inform and develop curricula for occupational skills training courses, International Medical Corps implemented a baseline study and used the results to identify the occupations that are currently in demand and most likely to be needed over the next two years in Ingushetia.

In addition to the livelihoods and economic development programs it supports, International Medical Corps facilitates the development of civil society groups in different villages throughout Ingushetia, identifying the most active groups that can then be formally registered as non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

You Can Help Build Change That Lasts
While humanitarian assistance in Ingushetia no longer focuses on a growing refugee influx, it is essential to help ensure that the host communities can revive what has been drained and destroyed over time. Your support will help build the independent livelihoods and security of thousands of Chechens who still live in Ingushetia, as well as the communities who host them. Click here to help Ingushetia and other IMC programs worldwide.