In progress at UNHQ

IHA/638

UN SEEKS $406 MILLION FOR HUMANITARIAN, REHABILITATION NEEDS IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA

24 November 1997


Press Release
IHA/638


UN SEEKS $406 MILLION FOR HUMANITARIAN, REHABILITATION NEEDS IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA

19971124 NEW YORK, 24 November (Department of Humanitarian Affairs) -- The United Nations is appealing for $406 million in 1998 for its humanitarian programmes in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

In the two years since the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement, noticeable progress has been achieved by the international community to help overcome the destruction caused by war and to build lasting peace in the region. However, much still remains to be done. Up to 1.6 million displaced persons and refugees remain uprooted; several million landmines continue to threaten lives and impede rehabilitation and return of people; and much of the infrastructure in the war-affected areas, ranging from individual homes to key services, remains to be rehabilitated. Fundamental to progress in all of these areas of concern is the continuation of a credible security umbrella for Bosnia and Herzegovina and the peaceful reintegration of displaced persons in Eastern Slavonia in neighbouring Croatia.

The programmes contained in the consolidated inter-agency appeal for 1998 will have a major role to play in meeting such needs. They include activities to be undertaken in Bosnia and Herzegovina ($263.4 million), Croatia ($44.6 million), Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ($45.5), and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia ($3.4 million), as well as $49.3 million for regional activities. The appeal covers the proposed activities of the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs, World Food Programme, United Nations Children's Fund, World Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization, International Labour Organization, International Organization for Migration, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, United Nations Population Fund, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Needs will be addressed in four main ways. The first is to accelerate the promotion of durable solutions in the region for uprooted persons, particularly by allowing minorities to return to their homes. The second is to continue to rehabilitate and expand on capacity-building efforts for areas with large numbers of returnees, refugees, and displaced persons, as well as building for support systems and services damaged by the war. The third is to ensure that those still requiring relief assistance receive the aid that they

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need. The fourth is to undertake peace-building activities and to support and complement the peace building efforts of others.

The success of these humanitarian actions in 1998 will require continued close collaboration with all aid partners. The United Nations system requests continued donor support in the coming year to allow the necessary programmes and activities to be undertaken.

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For information media. Not an official record.