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Welcome to the inaugural issue of ICRC News and Notes, the monthly newsletter of the Regional Delegation for the United States and Canada. We hope that you will enjoy reading about the ICRC's activities in the United States and Canada and about our operations worldwide.

Geneva (ICRC) – Jakob Kellenberger, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), has arrived in Ottawa for a two-day visit during which he will hold talks with the minister of foreign affairs, Peter MacKay, the minister of national defence, Gordon O'Connor, the minister of public safety, Stockwell Day, the president of the Canadian International Development Agency, Peter Greenhill, and other Canadian officials.

The East Africa Landmines Workshop, organised by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Governments of Kenya and Canada, has just ended in Nairobi with an urgent call for renewed commitment to implementing the 1997 Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel mines.

Between the donor responding to an appeal, and the beneficiary receiving help, lies a complex web of logistical headaches. In eastern/central Africa, John Wert is the man who gets things going, as Suzanne Charest reports from Kenya.

Often a first mission with the ICRC means being a polyvalent delegate, which loosely translates as all-round, multi-purpose and versatile. Suzanne Charest reports from Addis Ababa on a fellow Canadian who found out just how multi-faceted the job can be....