Kosovo: Statement by Mr. Ross Mountain, Assistant Emergency Relief Coordinator and Director of OCHA Geneva

STATEMENT BY THE ASSISTANT EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR AND DIRECTOR OF OCHA, GENEVA MR. ROSS MOUNTAIN AT THE HUMANITARIAN ISSUES WORKING GROUP OF THE PEACE IMPLEMENTATION COUNCIL
Geneva, 6 April 1999

Madam High Commissioner, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am speaking today on behalf of the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mr. Vieira de Mello, who regrets his inability to be present today.

The long-feared humanitarian consequences of the unresolved situation in Kosovo have now materialized - on a tragic scale. A few weeks ago, as you have described, the United Nations humanitarian system - indeed - the international humanitarian system - had been looking ahead to reorienting its efforts towards recovery, instead, we are having to gear up to meet the challenge of this humanitarian tragedy requiring an immediate response on a massive scale.

At the request of the Security Council, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Mr. Sergio Vieira de Mello, gave a briefing yesterday, in an informal consultation, on the humanitarian situation in and around Kosovo. (This statement is available at the back of the room.)

I will today specifically address the issue of resources. In December last year, a Consolidated UN Inter-Agency Appeal for the former Yugoslavia and Albania was launched. This appeal, which called for just under $360 million for 1999, focussed on two critical objectives: 1) the implementation of Post-Dayton programmes and 2) a response to the Kosovo situation, with relief assistance expected to phase out during the second half of the year. Sadly, this scenario was overly optimistic. Furthermore, as of 26 March, less than 10 per cent of the requirements of the appeal had been funded - requirements which are the foundation of the UN's capacity to respond. We are now facing even greater needs.

As the tragedy surrounding the Kosovo crisis unfolds, the UN humanitarian system under the leadership of UNHCR is moving rapidly to strengthen its capacity to respond urgently to the immediate needs of hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced persons.

During the past few days, the humanitarian agencies have reviewed existing capacities and estimated additional requirements in order to provide urgently needed relief supplies to those who have left Kosovo and other parts of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. We wish to bring to your attention a special UN Inter-Agency Donor Alert, outlining the immediate additional requirements for a new caseload of 350,000 refugees and displaced persons in Albania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (excluding Kosovo), and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

I would like to stress that these requirements are over and above those requirements outlined in the Appeal launched in December for the entire region and they too have already had to be revised upwards over the weekend. The additional requirements for the caseload of 350,000 outlined in the first Donor Alert amount to an estimated $ 70.8 million for a period of three months up to the end of June 1999. Priority assistance covered by the alert are in the areas of protection of human rights, shelter and non-food items, food, health, transportation and logistics. Agencies appealing include UNHCR, WFP, UNICEF, WHO, UNFPA, OHCHR, IOM and OCHA.

With the continuing acceleration of the exodus of displaced persons and refugees from Kosovo, as indicated by the High Commissioner, we have already been obliged to issue an addendum to the Donor Alert to meet the needs of a further 300,000 beneficiaries, totalling 650,000. This brings the total additional amount now requested to $138 million. This addendum is available at this meeting. Further addenda, which we will be bringing to your attention, will be issued as and when necessary to respond to the very grave humanitarian situation. The UN Humanitarian System must count on the early and generous support of Member States.

As soon as the situation stabilizes, and we are in a better position to project needs for the remainder of the year, a revised inter-agency appeal incorporating the original appeal and the Donor Alerts will be issued.

If the United Nations is to be in a position to respond swiftly to immediate needs of the displaced and refugee populations, I must stress that it is absolutely critical that agencies be given the means to do so on a very urgent basis. At the same time, may I take this opportunity to reiterate the call to donors to also accelerate their response to the Inter-Agency Appeal launched in December. I think that the present crisis only reconfirms the importance of implementing the various Post-Dayton and other programmes contained in that appeal and aimed at building a lasting peace in the region.

For those who may not be aware, OCHA's role in the former Yugoslavia is to support UNHCR in its lead Agency role, in particular in carrying out its inter-agency coordination function with staff on the ground who facilitate the consolidated appeal process, information exchange, and inter-agency coordination, among other activities. During the ongoing crisis, OCHA has further strengthened its support including for the assembly of the Donor Alerts and in the areas of air operations coordination, the delivery of relief items from its warehouse in Pisa, Italy, and through the deployment of two UNDAC teams to Tirana and Skopje.

Madam Chairperson, before concluding, I would like to pay tribute to your leadership, the exemplary work of your Special Envoy and staff and other humanitarian workers in the field. I would also like to reiterate OCHA's commitment to continue supporting UNHCR and the other agencies involved in this joint humanitarian effort, during the critical months ahead.

Thank you.