The United Nations Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for Southeastern Europe for 2001 (CAP 2001) presents an overall regional framework for humanitarian operations in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the UN Administered Province of Kosovo, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. In addition, it presents a wide range of UN agency programmes tailored to the specific needs in each of the countries.

The period covered by the appeal is January to December 2001. For Kosovo, 14 agencies have appealed for US$ 119,660,504, which is less than half the amount requested for 2000. The reduced amount is the outcome of a rigorous prioritisation exercise undertaken by all agencies along with the United Nations Development Group (UNDG). The Appeal makes clear that the activities presented are an integral part of a much wider commitment by the international community to bring peace to the region.

The CAP launch was attended by members of the donor community, including representatives of CIDA, USAID, DFID, the Swiss and Danish governments; the co-heads of the UNMIK departments and representatives of the various international organisations.

The theme of this year’s consolidated appeal is ‘Women and War’. This theme was chosen to acknowledge the specific situation of women in times of conflict. A video produced by OCHA-Geneva on the effects of war on women and children and the role of women in conflict situations was shown throughout the reception. A synopsis of the Kosovo component of the Southeastern Europe appeal was prepared by OCHA for distribution at the reception.

Meetings of heads of UN agencies have already taken place to determine the strategy for follow up of the Appeal. OCHA will monitor contributions to the appeal and is now in the process of improving its reporting system for donor contributions.

*The above information was obtained from the mission reports of the Special Envoy for the FRY/ Humanitarian Coordinator for Kosovo and the Head of OCHA in Belgrade dated 2-6 December 2000.

Contact: Astrid Van Genderen Stort at vangende@unhcr.ch

Based on information provided by the OCHA HCIC risk analysis survey, the number of families requiring emergency shelter has been revised downwards to an estimated 5126 instead of the initially anticipated 6000 families. The number of families in need of winter fuel remains the same at approximately 40,000.

Matching confirmed donor commitments and available resources against needs shows that emergency shelter assistance will be adequate to meet the needs of 4809 families, leaving a shortfall of 317 families. On winter fuel, 31,700 families will receive firewood through existing commitments from donors, however, an approximate 9103 vulnerable families have no adequate fuel for heating their accommodation unless additional donor contributions are urgently committed.

UNMIK is now on board with winter preparedness and has established a Winter Information Centre (WIC) within the Department of Local Administration to provide support to the co-ordination efforts of regional and municipal administrators. WIC aims to provide rapid access to information relating to the winter situation, including humanitarian and infrastructure needs all over Kosovo. A weekly Winterisation Working Group meets to facilitate the monitoring and co-ordination role of UNMIK. OCHA Field Liaison personnel will work alongside UNMIK local staff to monitor, gather and disseminate relevant information.

In order to track the implementation of ongoing winter-preparedness activities effectively, a Winterisation Information Centre (WIC) within the Department of Local Administration has been established. The WIC will serve as an information-clearing house to provide rapid access to information relating to the winter situation, including humanitarian and infrastructure needs all over Kosovo. It will also act as an Event Management Centre to facilitate the monitoring and co-ordination of UNMIK's winterisation efforts. 

The specific functions of WIC are:

It is located in C-304, Government Building

Blanca ANTONINI, Co—Head, DLA

Abu Y.M. SELIM, Senior Economic Development Officer, DLA

Omar ALI, Information Officer, WIC

Ross EVERSON, Information Officer, WIC

LTC Hans MAUTHNER KFOR / LNO

LTC Ski LITYNSKI KFOR / LNO

WIC can be reached by telephone, fax and e-mail.

WIC is working closely with UNMIK’s Electronic Processing Department (EDP) to set up a website on the UNMIK Intranet. Detailed information on this will follow soon.

Criminal activity continues to flourish throughout the region, with theft of, and from vehicles, and burglaries from international premises, both offices and houses, being particularly lucrative. You are again reminded that valuable items, particularly recent purchases still in the wrapping paper, are a tempting target that should not be left in unattended vehicles even for short periods of time.

The festive season is once again upon us, which means that many staff members, particularly international staff, will be leaving their private accommodation unattended for comparatively long periods of time. As well as ensuring that essential supplies are turned off, it is also wise to ensure that the premises are visited regularly by housekeepers or colleagues to give the impression that it is still in use. If possible, in certain circumstances it is advisable to find alternative tenants during any absence.

More and more staff members are making use of the many private taxis in Pristina. Generally the drivers give a good, honest and effective service. However, it must be remembered that such services do provide a source of information, either deliberately or inadvertently, for criminals. To avoid premises becoming deliberately targeted, particularly if your residence is a house, it is advisable to have the taxi driver drop you nearby your premises, rather than immediately outside, so that your precise address cannot be identified. In such cases, make sure the taxi driver drives away before going to the house.

WFP in co-ordination with their IPs and LDPs completed the winter distribution to 180 remote villages. Some 14,925 beneficiaries were pre-stocked with approximately 834 MT of food to cover their needs up to February 2001. The December distribution cycle started on time and will provide 2,695 MT of food to an estimated 200,000 beneficiaries.

Discussions with the IPs and DPs are still ongoing regarding the best possible structure for a future safety net that will cover vulnerable people outside the CSW social scheme.

"Come up with those protocols and guidelines you have been using. We will decide what to do with them. We will edit them to a Kosovo common standard," he said.

Examples might be how to diagnose a particular disease, or how to deal with clinical waste. The first document planned for the new series would be on domestic violence, the co-director said.

Criteria for use would be that the protocol was based on scientific evidence and had been tested in practice.

The Kosovo Health Talks reported that the DHSW has mandated a new committee to develop a Kosovo-wide AIDS prevention programme. The new body, provisionally known as the AIDS/HIV/STI Committee, is likely to be transformed into the "Kosovo AIDS Committee".

It was set up by WHO with the Institute of Public Health and also has members from UNICEF, the gynaecological clinic, the dermato-venerological clinic, the blood bank and the infectious disease clinic. The aim is to assess the current HIV/AIDS situation in Kosovo to obtain baseline data and to plan and develop a prevention programme in co-operation with the Kosovo UNAIDS Theme Group, which is due to meet later this month.

The committee's first task will be to carry out a "knowledge, attitude and practice" (KAP) study among youth aged 14-19. Other plans include counseling services.

Women for Women — Kosovo is a local women’s organisation dedicated to helping poor, rural Kosovar women secure employment or establish income-generating projects, moving them from crisis and transition to opportunity and self-sufficiency. As part of its income generating activities, Women for Women - Kosovo has opened a Women’s Co-operative Store in Pristina just in time for holiday gift giving! On sale in the store are products made by local women from Women for Women — Kosovo and from two other local organisations - Macrame and Qendra per Gra. All products are made by women in Kosovo, and profits from the sale go directly to the women. Eventually, the store will be completely owned and operated by women from Kosovo

Items for sale include beautiful embroidered table covers and serviettes, winter socks and sweaters, intricate crocheted pieces, traditional gold embroidered clothing, country-style painted pails and watering cans, painted flower pots and decorative candles, macrame items such as purses and place matts, original jewellery and jewellery boxes, picture frames displaying hand made articles and much, much more. The women have also produced several pieces of comfortable living room furniture.

With the weather hampering reconstruction, current activities are focused on the reforestation of Kosovo, with more than 1.3 million seedlings to be planted before 2001.

As a community-based rehabilitation programme, VERP has continued to stimulate local economic activity and contribute to an improved standard of living in selected villages. By employing members of minority ethnic groups, women, disabled persons and other vulnerable groups, VERP is promoting inter-ethnic reconciliation, community empowerment, and providing hands-on training to both workers and contractors employed on sub-projects. By the completion of Phase-II, VERP will have generated over 1.7 million working hours and injected over EURO 2.5 million directly into local economies through the sub-projects.

Training is focused on making available to the community the ample labour resources of the KPC and some technical skills. Projects carried out as part of this training have to be small, rapidly executable and provide opportunities for KPC members to acquire basic skills in building, roofing, carpentry, electrical work, sanitation, road repairs, haulage, vehicle repairs and in the general management of such projects.

To avoid duplication of effort and waste of resources KPC projects are identified in close co-operation with the existing administrative structures and the communities themselves and follow, in general, a priority list established by UNMIK. Once initially selected, projects are endorsed by the leadership at the RTG (Regional Task Group) level and then are presented to an "Approval Committee" that includes representatives from KFOR and UNMIK.

Examples of the 40 projects the KPC is currently engaged in are: assisting in an MPDL house construction project in Kacanik and Ferizaj, assisting Balkan Sunflowers in the construction of a Roma Resource Centre in Gjilan/Gnilane and erecting a fence around Faik Konica Primary School in Viti/Vitina to prevent the school grounds being used as a public carpark.

3.5.1 Shefkat is a local NGO working on behalf of Kosovo’s Turkish minority population. There are between 25,000 and 30,000 Turks living in Kosovo, mainly in Pristina, Prizren, Gjilan, Mamusha, Dobrecan and Vushtri. Shefkat’s main activities include distribution of aid to vulnerable families, educational and cultural projects and promotion of a free Turkish language media in Kosovo. The organisation is also involved in protection of the rights of the Turkish minority and the integration of the Turkish culture into the province’s multi-cultural landscape.

During the NATO bombing, the organisation’s office and all its equipment were destroyed and Shefkat is looking for funds to replace them. Shefkat is also looking for start-up funding for the following projects:

Proposals for all the projects include plans for sustainability.

The OCHA Humanitarian Community Information Centre (HCIC) in Pristina was established in August 1999 as an innovative approach to promoting co-ordination among humanitarian actors in Kosovo. The enthusiastic reception of the HCIC in the province led to interest in replicating the HCIC model in other countries with humanitarian emergencies. A ‘Toolbox’ is currently being prepared to document lessons-learned from the HCIC and provide important first-step information to help establish new centres and to identify elements of the HCIC that could be useful in the new centre.

As part of the process of sharing the lessons learned at the HCIC, a two-week mission to Eritrea was undertaken. The aim of the mission was to assist the Information Co-ordination Centre (ICC) in Eritrea, which was established by OCHA in partnership with the Eritrean Government in developing products.

The mission resulted in the production of several maps of the administrative zones and sub-zones developed for use in making assessment for the Consolidated Appeals Process in Eritrea as well as an informational CD. During the mission, the information systems of the ICC were reviewed and an organisational plan for data management was developed. The possibilities for an ICC website were also discussed and a basic website design was created.

Using documents transferred over the Internet from Eritrea, the HCIC Web Designer, developed a CD-Rom (similar to the HCIC Kosovo Encyclopaedia) containing hundreds of documents pertaining to the complex emergency in Eritrea. The completed CD-Rom was uploaded from Kosovo to an Internet site and subsequently downloaded in Eritrea for local production of multiple copies. This long distance collaboration between five agencies produced a CD that is distributed by the ICC as a resource for humanitarian actors in Eritrea.

More recently, OCHA’s Field Information Support Unit requested HCIC’s participation in an OCHA Advisory Mission to the United Nations Special Co-ordinator to the Palestinian Authority (UNSCO). The HCIC Data Co-ordinator travelled to Gaza, where she worked with UNSCO to provide support in establishing a database for tracking international assistance contributions to humanitarian agencies working in Gaza and the West Bank.

Both of these missions were invaluable in building links between OCHA field missions, as well as providing an opportunity for members of the OCHA HCIC staff to provide practical assistance in applying the lessons learned at the HCIC.

For comments and further information, please contact: Mary Millar

Office for the Co-ordination

of Humanitarian Affairs in Kosovo

Pristina, Kosovo

(phone) 381-38-501-509 ~ 516 ext. 2762

(fax) 871-761-843-891

This report is also available from the

Humanitarian Community Information Centre (HCIC) in Pristina and through the Internet at: