Brussels, 06/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has decided to grant EUR 5.5 million in humanitarian aid to refugees, displaced persons and other vulnerable groups in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, as well as to the vulnerable minorities in Kosovo (Serbs and Roma especially).
In Macedonia, where the number of displaced persons and refugees is estimated at 30,000, the funds provided by ECHO will continue until the summer to provide further support for humanitarian actions in the fields of nutrition (in close coordination with the International Red Cross and the NGO partners of ECHO on the ground), water, health, education and agriculture (supply of animal feed with a view to facilitating the return to a normal farming activity in the spring), and until the end of the year, to projects for the rehabilitation of schools and health facilities.
In Kosovo, ECHO aid will go to projects implemented by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to assist the last refugees and assure the protection of vulnerable minorities living in enclaves or in isolated areas.