A United Nations inter-agency team today
travelled to the Ingushetia capital, Nazran, as part of a five-day mission
to review the humanitarian situation, a UN spokesman said today in New
York.
The findings of the assessment team,
which includes UN agencies, NGOs and a Russian organization, will form
the basis of a new six-month humanitarian appeal for the region. The current
appeal expires at the end of the month.
The mission will also gather information on the humanitarian situation inside Chechnya itself. During his visit to Moscow last week, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the United Nations wanted to operate within Chechnya when the security situation there allowed.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees issued an appeal for $16.2 million for a three-month emergency period, and about $14.3 million has been raised so far.