MCIC Situation report Macedonia no. 20/2001

October 15-21, 2001

Skopje, October 22nd, 2001


HUMANITARIAN SITUATION

The Red Cross of Macedonia will published once a month the registry of displaced persons.


THE HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE

Food


El Hilal distributed 60 tons of assistance, namely food and hygiene products, to the villages of Lipkovo, Vaksince, Slupcane and in the Kumanovo region.

Health

No new activities in this period.

Shelters

A Macedonian Centre for International Cooperation team consisting of two architects visited the villages in Tetovo area, where they estimated the degree of damage to the houses and schools. The schools in Slatino, Glogji and Neraste, as well as houses from the first and second category in Beloviste, Rogacevo and Prvce have been evaluated.

The evaluation of the damaged objects in Matejce has also begun, where MCIC should repair 180 first-category houses.

On October 16 the Lipkovo - Kumanovo bus line started was put to use for the first time. It is organized by the UNHCR and the bus travels twice a day.

On October 17, UNHCR distributed 300 toolboxes for people in the villages of the Bogovinje region. These toolboxes contain blankets, mattresses, plastic tarps, building tools, water canisters, cutlery and sanitary equipment.

El Hilal distributed 190 packages from the UNHCR for the people who returned in Otlja, Orizare and Nikustak.

Water supplies and sanitation

No new activities in this period.

Schools and education

The solidaries with money ECHO is rehabilitating the schools in Otjla and Neprosteno.

Humanitarian mine-removal

In the Tetovo regions, in the Dzepciste, Tearce, Vratnica and Jegunovce districts, the mine search and removal on the roads and in the inhabited places started on October 16. The terrain-clearance will be carried out by two teams, consisted of 50 experts from Bosnia and Slovenia.

Protection and human rights

No new activities in this period.

Psychosocial activities

No new activities in this period.

Post-crisis rehabilitation

The Foods and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations arranged distribution of the first shipments with winter wheat seeds and artificial fertilizers, assistance for the Macedonian farmers from the regions struck by military activities and draught. The project, which is supposed to start tomorrow, is in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry Waterpower Engineering, the Macedonian agricultural unions and the "Care" and "Acted" humanitarian organizations.

The Foods and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations supplied 1.375.000 thousand dollars for project realisation. FAO will take part with 400.000 dollars, while the American Government, i.e. the "OFDA" organization, will give the remaining 975.000. The assistance will be sent to 13,600 agricultural homes in Kumanovo, Tetovo, Gostivar, the northern part of Skopje and to the draught-stricken regions. Each of these families will receive 150 kilograms wheat seeds and the same amount of artificial fertilizers.

MCIC had distributed 24 tons of artificial fertilizers for the villages of Ljubodrag, Umin Dol and Novo Selo.


THE HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATION

Financing

On October 16 the Government of the Republic of Macedonia accepted the suggestion to pass a law for changing the Financial Transaction Taxing Law. This law started being used in order to compensate the budget deficit, caused by the breached security-political situation in the country. This law will be in force until December 31, 2002.

Coordination

The thirteenth meeting of the humanitarian coordination NGO.

On this meeting, the rapid action projects consultant from the UNHCR, who made clear the purpose of this project, its criteria, the procedure and the application deadline to the representatives of the humanitarian coordination NGO. The UNHCR representative answered to the questions of the present people. The organizations filed short reports for their last-week activity. The SOZM representative said that the students accommodated in the collective centres have not received schoolbooks yet. The Daja representative pointed out that the displaced high-school students have no schoolbooks, the travelling expenses for the students travelling to Skopje have not been taken care of, and that the persons displaced for two weeks are supposed to pay for health services. Several questions were raised on the meeting, such as: trust restoration; a transport for the displaced students free of charge; supplying students with winter clothes and shoes; school books and accessories for the displaced students, because most of the displaced students have not received school books yet, explanation from the UNHCR, as well as speeding up the whole procedure is needed.



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