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UNICEF begins distribution of emergency supplies in KosovoMonday 14 June 1999: UNICEF participated in a 50-vehicle humanitarian convoy which arrived in Kosovo Sunday evening, transporting relief materials and a staff of four international and eight national staff. UNICEF today began distributing essential medical supplies, high protein biscuits and baby hygiene materials to several thousand internally displaced persons located around Pristina. Initial assessments of the population surrounding Pristina reveal that it consists mostly of women and children, with few men. There is no medical personnel available and UNICEF, in conjunction with the International Medical Corps, is arranging for a doctor to arrive in the area later today. UNICEF has ascertained that our Pristina warehouse is intact, but we have as yet been unable to gain access to our office, which was evacuated in March. UNICEF is setting up a warehouse, office, communication and transport system in Pristina today.UNICEF's priority in the initial stages of the return to Kosovo will be to provide immediate life-saving assistance to some 5,000 infants, 50,000 children and 10,000 women. This will include the provision of blankets, hygiene kits, diapers, sanitary napkins and children's clothing. We will also focus on rehabilitating and reactivating basic health and education services through support to social sector institutions, including the deployment of 30 mobile health centres. In addition, as the lead agency on mine awareness, UNICEF has already begun a wide-scale information campaign in Albania and Macedonia warning refugees of the hazards they may face as they return home, including mines, booby traps and unexploded ordinance. We have distributed some 100,000 posters and leaflets in refugee camps, and have brought in mine awareness material on the convoy into Pristina. Teachers in UNICEF-supported schools in the refugee camps and in host communities today began incorporating mine awareness materials into their teaching. UNICEF is also supporting courses to train mine awareness trainers. |
| Please email media@unicef.org with comments or requests for more information, quoting CF/DOC/PR/1999/20 |
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