UNITED NATIONS APPEALS FOR $325 MILLION FOR EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE TO GREAT LAKES REGION IN 1997
Press Release
IHA/623
UNITED NATIONS APPEALS FOR $325 MILLION FOR EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE TO GREAT LAKES REGION IN 1997
19970319 NEW YORK, 19 March (Department of Humanitarian Affairs) -- While the humanitarian situation throughout the Great Lakes region remains precarious, the United Nations appealed today for $324.5 million to meet the emergency humanitarian needs of over 1.4 million refugees, internally displaced persons and returnees affected by the ongoing emergency.The United Nations Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for the Great Lakes Emergency, prepared by the United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations operating in the region, covers the period January to December 1997. Programmes and activities within the Appeal will address emergency humanitarian needs for 460,000 internally displaced people and refugees in Zaire, 615,000 internally displaced people and refugees in Burundi, 326,000 in the United Republic of Tanzania, 33,000 in Uganda and Zambia. Acting on the specific request by the Government of Rwanda, humanitarian requirements for Rwanda are not included in this regional Great Lakes Appeal.
In eastern Zaire, the conflict between the Government and rebel forces continues to have a devastating impact upon innocent civilians as it spreads deeper into the interior of the country. Hundreds of thousands of Rwandan and Burundian refugees remain unaccounted for and the number of war-affected and internally displaced nationals within Zaire has grown considerably. In Burundi, over a million people have been uprooted and tens of thousands killed in the civil war and violence that has engulfed that country. The United Republic of Tanzania, facing pressure from the presence of a remaining caseload of Rwandan and Burundian refugees within its borders, and Uganda, which is threatened by a spill-over of the crisis, are also adversely affected by developments in the region.
In order to respond rapidly and adequately to the fluid situation, projects within the Appeal have been drawn up on a regional basis in a manner which allows material and human resources to be transferred at short notice to where there is the greatest need. The main requests are for $116 million for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), $145.5 million for the World Food Programme (WFP), $35 million for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), $8.5 million for the World Health Organization (WHO), and $8.1 million for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
- 2 - Press Release IHA/623 19 March 1997
The assistance sought from the international community will be aimed at preventing suffering, promoting voluntary repatriation of Rwandan refugees and providing sufficient assistance to enable internally displaced and conflict-affected persons to return to normal economic and social standards of living.
The international community is now faced with one of the worst humanitarian crisis and is calling upon donors to respond generously and without delay to this appeal.
* *** *