Aid for 2 million Central American refugees - $121 million.

Aid for 2 million Central American refugees--$121 million

International aid is on the way for an estimated 2 million refugees and displaced persons in Central America--the legacy of more than a decade of turmoil in that region. A total of $121 million was pledged for 59 projects at the First International Meeting of the Follow-up Committee of the International Conference on Central American Refugees, held at Headquarters on 27 and 28 June.

The largest contributors were Sweden, the European Community, Italy and the United States, in that order. A total of 72 countries, as well as 76 inter-regional and non-governmental organizations, attended the Meeting. Some 20 Governments pledged contributions.

Members of the Follow-Up Committee--Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua--reported on implementation of the Concerted Plan of Action in favour of Central American Refugees, Returnees and Displaced Persons, adopted at the 1989 International Conference on Central American Refugees held in Guatemala City. Most refugees and displaced persons in the region are in Belize, Costa Rica, Honduras and Mexico.

In a Final Declaration, the Meeting asked affected countries to agree that projects in favour of refugees should promote the participation of women, development of children, conservation of ethnic and cultural values and protection of the environment. Refugees who were not repatriated should be progressively incorporated into their countries of asylum, the Meeting emphasized.

Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar told the Meeting that he could offer today "a much more optimistic assessment" of the situation in Central America than last year.

It would not be possible to achieve a solution to the refugee problem without a sustained development plan. For that reason, the Conference was an important part of the Special Plan of Economic Co-operation for Central America, he said. The $4.3 billion Special Plan to help reconstruct the region as peace is attained was adopted by the General Assembly in 1988 (resolution 42/231).

Aid asked for Nicaraguan

repatriation 

Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar said on 25 April that UN operations under the International Support and Verification Commission (CIAV) will cost the Organization some $56.8 million for the first year and asked countries to fund the effort.

At a one-day "pledging conference" at Headquarters, Mr. Perez de Cuellar explained that the money will be used to repatriate some 90,000 members of the Nicaraguan Resistance, along with their families, demobilized in Honduras and Costa Rica and take care of their immediate needs until they are integrated into development activities.

The Organization of American States component of CIAV will be responsible for those demobilized within Nicaraguan territory and their families, he explained.