"...What assistance has the ICRC been providing to IDPs in Kachin and Shan states? I have had the opportunity to see two camps and a settlement where displaced people are living. One in Myitkyina, where people have been living for several years, and then two in Kutkai in northern Shan State, where displaced people had just arrived. I really feel that there is quite a difference in terms of living standards in one camp where there are people newly arrived. There, we provide emergency assistance. Whereas in Myitkyina we support livelihoods, for instance, in providing cash grants, so that people can open their own shop, earn their own money and stand on their own feet. What short- and long-term aid does the ICRC provide to IDPs? In the short term, it is basically humanitarian assistance, for instance the provisions of shelters. It was the first need that I saw in the camps that I visited in the north of Kutkai and we provided material to every family to build shelters. Then, it is about improving access to water, access to health care and to basic food. In order to provide access to food items, for instance, we distribute cash to every family every month so that they can buy their own food. We provide K7,000 per person per month. For a family of five, it?s K35,000 per month..... For the longer term, we develop other supports for families who show interest in developing economic projects, what we call conditional cash grants. With that money, I saw families in a camp in Myitkyina who opened their own shops, for instance, small grocery shops, or started to raise pigs. .....We have a program called Weapon Contamination [to raise awareness among the public]. We have specialists who are working with Myanmar Red Cross volunteers to sensitise the population on the risks of mines. Myanmar is not a signatory to the mine-ban convention known as the Ottawa Treaty. In our sensitisation work with the army and the armed groups, we very much base our arguments on the fact that we say that we understand why they use it for defence. But the problem is that if you use landmines, they will be there for a long time, and 30 years after, even if there is peace they might explode. So you are really creating a problem that will last for many decades and that will make the lives of people in these areas extremely difficult for a very long time. Landmines are a weapon that have lasting consequences. We see it in countries like Colombia, Afghanistan, even in Bosnia there are still landmines more than 20 years after the end of the conflict and people are at risk of getting hurt or their livestock affected. I think Myanmar is facing, not the whole country, but in certain areas, a serious problem with landmines. So our work consists not only of physical rehabilitation but also to encourage all parties to conflict to address this issue urgently, to start talks in order to clear the affected areas of mines so the population will be able to use the land for farming, to have access to water and grazing land. We are ready to help..."