U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
BUREAU FOR HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE (BHR)
OFFICE OF U.S. FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (OFDA)
Kosovo
Shelter:
USAID/OFDA shelter programs are close to completion, with some 20,691 families (124,146 beneficiaries) benefiting from emergency shelter kit distributions and 8,201 families (49,206 beneficiaries) benefiting from roofing packages as of December 15, 1999.
As of December 15, 1999, 91 percent of the timber for roofing packages has been received in Kosovo, with 61 percent of the roofing packages delivered to beneficiaries. In addition, some 42 percent of the families benefiting from the roofing packages have completed construction of their roofs. The USAID/OFDA DART expects roofing package distributions to be complete by December 31.
Transport/Logistics:
To date, 32 trains have arrived in Kosovo with USAID/OFDA-funded shelter material, and the USAID/OFDA DART expects approximately six more trains to arrive before the end of the shelter program.
Water and Sanitation:
Kosovo's water and sanitation problems result not only from the recent conflict, but are symptomatic of chronic systemic infrastructure shortfalls in the region. Emergency needs have been addressed under USAID/OFDA and other donor grants. The development of adequate water and sanitation systems, however, will remain a longer-term challenge for Kosovo.
Urban water and sanitation systems in the cities of Peja (Pec), Klina and Istok suffer from inadequate capacity, the absence of treatment facilities, significant leakage, neglect and insufficient maintenance.
Under the initial emergency program, USAID/OFDA implementing partners cleaned 3 wells for every 500 people in villages. In addition, USAID/OFDA implementing partners have been cleaning wells upon individual requests from villagers, and collaborating with local communities to develop confidence in the water supply and promote public health education.
In Ferizaj (Urosevac) region, overall water quality continues to be a problem in rural areas. Shallow wells with poor sanitation facilities put the water supply at risk of contaminants. In addition, there have been multiple cases of contamination by diesel fuel, dead animals, bodies, car batteries, or general garbage.
USAID/OFDA implementing partners are collaborating with local communities to develop confidence in the water supply and promote public health education.
As winter crowding increases in rural homes, USAID/OFDA implementing partners anticipate a rise in health problems due to sanitation issues. In response, agencies are conducting hygiene promotion campaigns and training village representatives to carry out hygiene training and well cleaning activities.
Minority Issues:
The Roma community living in tents in Obilic Municipality has completed its move to their new winter housing at Plementina Barracks. The move occurred without major incident.
Financial Details
To date, the U.S. Government (USG) has provided more than $465 million in response to the Kosovo crisis since March 1998.
USAID/BHR: $216,303,000
OFDA: $133,227,000
FFP: $70,600,000
OTI: $12,476,000
DOS/Population, Refugees and Migration: $201,237,130
DOD: $47,949,000
TOTAL: $465,489,130