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UN appeals for US $68.2 million to meet humanitarian needs in Sierra Leone

DHA/97/8
Geneva, --(Department of Humanitarian Affairs) - The United Nations today appealed for US $68.2 million to address the humanitarian needs in Sierra Leone following five years of civil conflict, which formally ended with the signing of the Abidjan peace accord on 30 November 1996. The overall improvement in the security climate, combined with efforts made by the Government of Sierra Leone, UN agencies and non-governmental organizations to promote the advantages of timely resettlement, has resulted in the return of approximately 517,000
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Les Nations Unies à la recherche de US$ 68,2 millions pour financer l'assistance humanitaire en Sierra Leone

Genève -- (Département des Affaires Humanitaires) - Les Nations Unies lancent aujourd'hui un appel pour un montant de US$ 68,2 millions afin de couvrir les besoins humanitaires en Sierra Leone apparus à la suite des cinq ans de conflit civil qui s'est achevé par la signature de l'accord de paix d'Abidjian, le 30 novembre 1996. L'amélioration générale du climat de sécurité combinée avec les efforts du Gouvernement de Sierra Leone, des agences des Nations Unies et des organisations non-gouvernementales pour promouvoir les avantages
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Zaire rebels claim more territory ahead of peace talks

In Zaire, rebels claim they have captured more territory ahead of peace talks with the government.
Reports from Zaire say the rebels seized the town of Kamina in mineral-rich Shaba province in their advance on the provincial capital Lubumbashi.

Lubumbashi is the centre of the country's copper, cobalt and precious metals reserves.

Observers say the rebels appear to be preparing a pincer movement on the city from Kamina in the north-west and Kasenga in the northeast.

The rebels took Kasenga last week.

Meanwhile, a United Nations spokesman

Australian Broadcasting Corporation:

© ABC

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Push-back Imperils Refugees

Report #28
Contact: David Shorr
(202) 828-0110

In the last few days, conditions for the refugees south of Kisangani have become much worse than they already were. The ADFL-ordered closing of the northernmost camp at Lula (seven kilometers outside Kisangani) forced exhausted refugees to walk another 20 kilometers and put further strain on a site that simply cannot handle them. Heavy rains today made it nearly impossible to stay dry and will likely hasten the spread of disease. And delivery of aid to the refugees has been woefully inadequate.

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Albania: Italy Acknowledges Risk Of Aid Mission

Rome, 1 April 1997 (RFE/RL) - Italy's Defense Minister, Beniamino Andreatta, today acknowledged a multi-national security mission into Albania will be risky, but he said it will go ahead within 10 days.
Andreatta said Italy needs time to put the force together.

Relations between Italy and Albania have been strained since Friday's sinking of an Albanian refugee ship in the Adriatic Sea. Four people drowned and 34 were rescued. Survivors said another 80 refugees are missing. The survivors also blamed an Italian coast guard ship for ramming their boat and causing it to sink.

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty:

© RFE/RL, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Italy to Press on with Albania Force, Patrols

11:16 AM EST

ROME (Reuter) - Italy said Tuesday that it would press ahead with plans to lead an international security force to troubled Albania despite mounting domestic pressure to think again after the fatal sinking of a crowded refugee boat.

Defense Minister Beniamino Andreatta said the Italian-dominated force, expected to number some 5,000 men, could start deploying in the Balkan country by April 10.

"When you are good members of a community you have to make haste and do your duty," he said, adding

Reuters - AlertNet:



For more humanitarian news and analysis, please visit www.trust.org/alertnet

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U.N. Program to Double Call for N.Korea Aid

WASHINGTON (Reuter) - The U.N. World Food Program planned to double its appeal for aid to North Korea after recent inspections found the potential for starvation "quite rapidly on a massive scale," one program official said Tuesday,

"As a result of our trip, we have decided to double our appeal to 200,000 metric tons of food and to increase our caseload to include all children under six in the country," Michael Ross, a member of the program's inspection team, said.

In visits to Pyongyang and three southern

Reuters - AlertNet:



For more humanitarian news and analysis, please visit www.trust.org/alertnet

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UNHCR Racing to Save Surviving Refugees in Zaire

(WFP says hundreds of bodies line roadsides south of Kisangani) (430)
By Wendy Lubetkin
USIA European Correspondent
GENEVA -- Describing the refugee situation in Zaire as "catastrophic," the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) appealed to the international community April 1 to stabilize a situation in which hundreds are believed to have already perished from disease, exhaustion, and hunger.

"We are now basically racing against time to save the lives of the survivors," UNHCR spokeswoman Pamela O'Toole told a press briefing.

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IRIN Emergency Update No. 140 on the Great Lakes

Report
IRIN
UNITED NATIONS
Department of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network
for the Great Lakes
Tel: +254 2 622147
Fax: +254 2 622129
e-mail: irin@dha.unon.org

UNHCR field workers today described the situation of about 100,000 refugees between Ubundu and Kisangani in eastern Zaire as "catastrophic". A UNHCR spokeswoman said in Geneva that further re-location of refugees by forces of the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (ADFL) would be "inhumane".

Refugees in very poor physical shape

IRIN:

A selection of IRIN reports are posted on ReliefWeb. Find more IRIN news and analysis at http://www.irinnews.org

Une sélection d'articles d'IRIN sont publiés sur ReliefWeb. Trouvez d'autres articles et analyses d'IRIN sur http://www.irinnews.org

This article does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. Refer to the IRIN copyright page for conditions of use.

Cet article ne reflète pas nécessairement les vues des Nations Unies. Voir IRIN droits d'auteur pour les conditions d'utilisation.

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Zaire Fact Sheet # 7 Fiscal Year (FY) 1997

BUREAU FOR HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE (BHR)
OFFICE OF U.S. FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (OFDA)
ZAIRE - Complex Emergency

April 1, 1997

Note: The last fact sheet was dated March 27, 1997.

Background: In mid-October, 1996 fighting broke out in South Kivu, Zaire between the Zairian army (FAZ) and the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (Alliance) led by Laurent Kabila. The fighting spread north, west, and south, with the Alliance gaining territory on all fronts. The Alliance now controls the eastern fifth of Zaire. On March 15, the

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Sudan says rebels haven't captured northeast district

KHARTOUM (Apr 1, 1997 1:02 p.m. EST) - A Sudanese spokesman on Tuesday denied rebels had captured the northeast district of Agigi and said the army had destroyed Eritrean and Ugandan tanks helping rebels in their anti-government fight.

"We confirm that Agigi is in the hands of the armed forces," Sudanese Culture and Information Minister Brigadier Al-Tayeb Ibrahim Mohamed Khair told a news conference.

"The army has contained the joint offensive of the Eritreans and the rebels in Karora after destroying two

Reuters - AlertNet:



For more humanitarian news and analysis, please visit www.trust.org/alertnet

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Zaire watch news briefs 1 Apr 1997

Report
Marek Enterprise
Military Police in Lubumbashi have been disarming retreating Zairean army soldiers to prevent looting of the city. The soldiers seized a train while fleeing the rebel advance on Kamina and were disarmed without resistance at the Lubumbashi railway station. Zambian authorities are also reporting disarming Zairean soldiers as they flee into Zambia from southern Zaire. Journalist reports from Lubumbashi indicate the citizens of the city want the ADFL to enter the city prior to commencement of the peace talks scheduled this weekend for South Africa.
Kinshasa government spokesman Leon Kalima
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IRIN: Bulletin quotidien no 140 d'informations sur la region des Grands Lacs

Report
IRIN
NATIONS UNIES
Departement des Affaires Humanitaires / IRIN
Tel: +254 2 622 147
Fax: +254 2 622 129
e-mail: irin@dha.unon.org

* Des representants du Haut Commissariat aux Refugies qui travaillent sur le terrain ont decrit aujourd'hui la situation de pres de 100.000 refugies entre Ubundu et Kisangani dans l'est du Zaire comme "catastrophique". Un porte-parole du Haut Commissariat aux Refugies a declare a Geneve que de nouvelles reallocations de refugies par les troupes de l'Alliance des Forces Democratiques pour la Liberation

IRIN:

A selection of IRIN reports are posted on ReliefWeb. Find more IRIN news and analysis at http://www.irinnews.org

Une sélection d'articles d'IRIN sont publiés sur ReliefWeb. Trouvez d'autres articles et analyses d'IRIN sur http://www.irinnews.org

This article does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. Refer to the IRIN copyright page for conditions of use.

Cet article ne reflète pas nécessairement les vues des Nations Unies. Voir IRIN droits d'auteur pour les conditions d'utilisation.

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UNICEF Warns against Afghan Female Exclusion

Tuesday, 1 April 1997: Schools have just opened throughout Afghanistan after the winter recess -- but there are no girls in sight. Since their military victories in the summer of 1995, the Taliban, known for their ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam, have barred girls and women teachers from the classroom and ruled that women may not work.
"The exclusion of girls and women from the public sphere has disastrous consequences for the entire nation, as well as being an affront to basic human rights," said UNICEF Executive
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AFSC Renews Efforts to Raise Funds for North Korean Food Relief

For Immediate Release

Contact: J.Ron Byler (215/241-7060)
or Aishah Shahidah Simmons (215/241-7056)


PHILADELPHIA - In response to reports of impending famine in North Korea, the American Friends Service Committee
(AFSC), along with other international relief agencies, is renewing its efforts to raise money for food relief. More than two
million children in North Korea are threatened with starvation when the current food supply runs out in April, according to the
executive director of the World Food Program (WFP) who recently returned
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United Nations Inter-Agency Humanitarian Assessment Mission to Albania

A United Nation Inter-Agency Mission visited Albania from 26 March to 1 April 1997 to assess humanitarian needs resulting from the ongoing economic and political crisis and civil disorder which took hold and escalated during the past few weeks. The mission was led by the Department of Humanitarian Affairs and consisted of representatives from the World Food Programme, UNICEF, the World Health Organization, UNHCR and UNDP.
The mission has concluded that while vulnerable population groups are likely to be placed at risk of food and
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Oxfam Emergencies Bulletin - Central Africa 1 Apr 1997

Report
Oxfam
(extract)
The Oxfam Emergencies Bulletin aims to give an overview of Oxfams current emergency work world-wide, for use in communications work. It appears monthly.

For further information, contact Maurice Herson in the Emergencies Department.

[ Telephone 01865 312540; e-mail mherson@oxfam.org.uk ]

Central Africa (Great Lakes)
Zaire/Zambia/Rwanda/Burundi/Tanzania

The rebel Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaïre (ADFL) has continued to make great military advances in the east of Zaïre. Attempts at political settlement of the

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Oxfam Emergencies Bulletin - Liberia 1 Apr 1997

Report
Oxfam
(extract)
The Oxfam Emergencies Bulletin aims to give an overview of Oxfams current emergency work world-wide, for use in communications work. It appears monthly.
For further information, contact Maurice Herson in the Emergencies Department.

[ Telephone 01865 312540; e-mail mherson@oxfam.org.uk ]
Security across Liberia remains tenuous but allows aid programmes to continue, although with uncertainty as a major assumption in all planning. The final date for elections is still not fixed, although the provisional date is