ACT Situation Report
(Balkans Appeal EUBK91)
Skopje, Macedonia, October 3, 1999, by Rod Booth
OVERVIEW OF THE SITUATION:
Building materials in significant quantity are finally beginning to arrive at ACT International warehouses and supported villages, with 350 truck loads anticipated for Mitrovica alone over the next three weeks. Meanwhile, and thankfully, the weather continues to hold
– providing precious additional days for the erection of roof timbers and tiles for bombed-out homes and school buildings.Construction activity has been enhanced by the entry into the field, with approval of their governments, by some of the KFOR battalions in their respective areas. E.G. - Danish KFOR troops in north Mitrovica cleared wrecked vehicles from a former bus depot enabling ACT/NCA staff to set up emergency facilities for 250 Romas expelled from their former school refuge. German KFOR troops have undertaken the rebuilding of the school at Brestovica and temporary bridge replacements are finally being created by KFOR engineers on some of the major highways.
A sudden violent storm in the Rahovac area on Friday gave indication of the serious consequences yet to be experienced from unrepaired war-damage to drainage and sewer systems. Road wash outs only add to the feeling that driving is now a more dangerous occupation than de-mining in present-day Kosovo.
The de-stabilizing security situation has led for a call by UNMIK for a doubling of the requested 3000-person international police force in the territory. On Tuesday a grenade explosion in the market at Kosovo Polje (one of the last remaining predominantly Serb enclaves in Kosovo) killed four persons and injured 34 others. At the time of writing it is still uncertain who was responsible for the attack.
Within other parts of FRY 10,000 new military draft notices have been printed and are ready for use, and the VJ 3rd Army Corps in southern Serbia has been conducting tactical exercises near the Kosovo border. Belgrade analysts continue to doubt the viability of a renewed offensive by the Yugoslav army, but FRY opinion polls still rank it as the most trusted institution in the country.
Within Serbia the state controlled media continues to feed the nationalism of the populace with direct attacks on the opposition parties, the Serbian Orthodox Church, and professional groups such a teachers
– all of whom it accuses of being 5th Columnists and pawns of NATO. This week saw direct violence by well-armed police against political demonstrators on the streets of Belgrade.Over the last few weeks ACT/IOCC Belgrade had completed its assessment of 68 collective centers in Central, Eastern and Western Serbia and found a truly alarming situation
– particularly in the more remote locations. The overwhelming majority of refugees and IDPs in these centers are in state of severe depression, feeling cut off from information or services. Resources are in short supply, e.g. - the 29 residents of one CC are receiving only one hot meal per WEEK. Residents of most centers were so demoralized they would not even assist IOCC staff to offload aid parcels.
OVERVIEW OF ACT RESPONSE:
Of the fourteen projects within the current ACT appeal four (by Hungarian Interchurch Aid, the Ecumenical Humanitarian Organization, and International Orthodox Christian Charities) are focused on assisting internally displaced persons, refugees and other needy persons within the FRY areas of Vojvodina, Sandzak, Montenegro, and (as possible) Kosovo. The five implementing partners (Lutheran World Federation, United Methodist Committee on Relief, Macedonian Center for International Cooperation, Norwegian Church Aid, and DanChurchAid) that constitute the Act humanitarian response within Kosovo, are working in the predominantly rural areas surrounding Mitrovica, Decani, Djakova and Rahovac, engaged in food distribution, shelter & school rehabilitation, winterization, de-mining, well-clearing, water/sanitation, agriculture/food security, and social/community development.
The ACT EUBK91 Appeal currently has pledges/receipts of $23,085,891 (US) towards its budget target of $ 37,290,425. Contingency plans have been drawn up for a mid-course correction to keep projected activities within realizable objectives. Program project heads will be meeting in Skopje this week to chart future directions for the entire Balkan initiative.
THIS WEEK:
SHELTER / WINTERIZATION:
Supply trucks continue to arrive for ACT/LWF Mitrovica at the rate of 12-15 a day. Materials are immediately quality-checked and, where possible, sent straight on to the next receiving village, thus avoiding unnecessary trans-shipping and handling.
In addition, construction tool sets have been supplied to all the target villages for sharing amongst the beneficiaries. Additional engineering staff have been hired to accompany the delivery of supplies to each village and assist with organizing construction on a house by house basis.
ACT/UMCOR at Rahovac and Mitrovica received 42 truckloads of roof tiles, timber, doors and windows during the week. These were distributed to 65 beneficiaries in the Mitrovica area and 100 in Dragobijl and Brestovic (Rahovac). ACT/UMCOR engineers and logistics staff have met with village leaders to devise plans for helping the most vulnerable beneficaries (eg: widows, the elderly) with their home reconstruction.
ACT/MCIC has added 30 houses within Gjakova itself to its home rehabilitation program. Construction programs are proceeding in the area villages as well.
SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION:
ACT/NCA is now involved in 26 school rehabilitations of which 12 are now completed. UNICEF has asked ACT to undertake another 14 schools - 5 in Pristina municipality and 9 in Kamenica, a mixed Serb/Albanian area close to the Serbian border. Most of the schools remaining on the UNICEF list are heavily damaged – making them expensive to repair. ACT staff will evaluate the new sites this coming week and report.
FOOD / MATERIAL AID DISTRIBUTION:
ACT/IOCC reports that despite the political situation in Serbia, the government has adopted a more conciliatory approach towards the humanitarian agencies operating there. During the past two weeks the Belgrade office has assisted 9,356 persons with 3,110 family hygiene and 2,110 family food parcels, plus an additional 784 individual food parcels and 168 insitutional hygiene kits.
The Montenegran office similarly assisted 4,271 refugees/IDPs/social cases with 3,595 bedding sets, 970 institutional hygiene kits, and an assortment of family food and hygiene parcels. ACT partner MHO (Muslim Humanitarian Organization) in Novi Pazar (FRY) is similarly caring for 1,766 refugees from Kosovo, Croatia and Bosnia as well as a further 4,100 local beneficiaries placed in need by the current political situation.
ACT/MCIC has done an additional distribution of blankets to mountain villages in its area, as well as providing continuing food aid to the 6,000 persons in its 6 primary villages. ACT/LWF in Mitrovica has completed negotiations with the Yugoslav Red Cross for provision of ACT food and non-food aid to IDPs on the Serb dominated north side of town. Delivery is to take place next week.
WELL CLEARING / WATER SANITATION:
The well-clearing, corpse removal unit has shifted its focus to the recruiting and training of local well-cleaning team members. Seven persons will be selected and hired by mid-October with their training to continue through until the end of December. All ACT-purchased well-clearing equipment will then be turned over to this local team for it’s use.
The WatSan group successfully overcame the major emergency precipitated by the eviction last week of the north Mitrovica Roma group from their school refuge. Working with Danish KFOR, ACT’s water/sanitation engineers were able to improvise adequate water and sanitation facilities for the temporary Roma camp. ACT is awaiting the go-ahead from UNHCR on the final location of the permanent Roma camp – for which ACT is to build the kitchen/toilet modules plus 50 prefabricated shelter units.
In school rehabilitation the unit has uncovered the water main in Bytyq – ready for repair when new pipe arrives. Work is underway at 6 additional school sites. After an intensive search a hydrogeological survey map for the Rahovec, Sanoc, & Drenoc was finally brought to light. This will greatly enhance well-drilling activity in the area.
DE-MINING:
With a complement of 147 persons, the ACT/DCA mine action team is one of the largest ACT projects in Kosovo. There is real concern that mine awareness education should accompany the just-beginning deliveries of winter seed stock to the villages. There have been 233 explosions of mines and other ordnance in Kosovo since June 12th, resulting in 42 deaths. The UN has identified 3,500 dangerous areas within the province. An ACT de-mining crew visiting the Prelip village school this week came across 70 kilos of unexploded anti-tank mines which the children had dug up in neighboring fields and stored in the school hallway! (cf the Oklahoma Bomber @ 200 kilos).
The EOD team cleared 12 schools in the Peja and Decani areas plus carrying out six additional ordnance removals. ACT’s de-mining teams will be trained by specialists this week in techniques for lifting top soil and returning land to farmers. Negotiations are also being completed for the use of a HYDREMA mechanical demining unit which will greatly increase the productivity of the project teams.
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT:
The ACT/UMCOR social development program has completed its equipping of the schools in its 4 target villages with desks, blackboards, chairs and school kits. 100 toys were provided for the Rehabilitation Center for Women and Children in Pristina. Staff have completed a social service assessment in 24 villages with another 10 remaining to be done. As a result of the assessment 5 local women’s groups will be established in area villages. Unit staff are also working with UNICEF and local youth groups on the creation of much-needed Youth Center facility for Pristina.
FOOD SECURITY – AGRICULTURE:
ACT/UMCOR distributed 3000 packages of seed, along with shovels, hoes and rakes, to five different villages in its sector. Tractor repair equipment will be confirmed next week.
ACT-MCIC has extended its agricultural program to include the 36 villages in the Dragash municipality. This will include repairing some 50 tractors and the provision of a mobile tractor repair facility. A cattle survey of the area has been completed with the distribution of concentrated cattle feed to follow.
Partners in the ACT Appeal (EUBK91) in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia are International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC); the Ecumenical Humanitarian Organization (EHO); and Hungarian Interchurch Aid (HIA). The ACT International Humanitarian Response in Kosovo consists of five operational ACT members – DanChurchAid (DCA); the Lutheran World Federation (LWF); Macedonian Center for International Cooperation (MCIC); Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) – who have come together to form an operational structure supported by the ACT International Network worldwide.
DCA is involved in humanitarian mine action; LWF in shelter rehabilitation and social development; MCIC in relief and rehabilitation; NCA in water and sanitation, well cleaning / corpse removal, and school rehabilitation; and UMCOR with shelter / winterization, and food security / agricultural recovery.
Rod Booth is the ACT Information Officer in Kosovo and Macedonia
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