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Host Families Coordination Meeting
17 August 2001
Chaired by Agostino Mulas, UNHCR BO Skopje
AGENDA:
- Cash Assistance to Host Families;
- Non-food Assistance to Host Families;
- Assessments of Host Families Needs.
UPDATES:
IFRC informed that as the peace progress progresses, some villages
will be taken off their list of beneficiaries of assistance. Due to precarious
security conditions and the level of damage to private dwellings, it is
extremely unlikely, though, that the number of IDPs will drop below 20,000
before the end of October.
The Swiss Embassy Humanitarian Aid Unit are awaiting HQ approval
to begin their cash assistance programme to host families. A representative
from the Swiss Government will be in Skopje next week to review the programme’s
proposed methodology. A decision on funding is expected by the end of
the month.
Approval on funding is expected from the US Government, to replace the
15,000 hygiene parcels in ICRC in-country stocks, that the American Red
Cross is currently distributing to host families. The American Red Cross
will likely take over the distribution of non-food items from ICRC, once
the latter’s mandate expires.
The Danish Refugee Council, in cooperation
with El Hilal, continues to distribute hygiene parcels and host families
parcels to host families in Tetovo and Skopje. The distribution in Skopje
is due to begin on 20 August, the one in Tetovo on 21 August. Both distributions
are expected to last about ten days.
The American Refugee Council (ARC) plans to distribute about 1,000
hygiene parcels to host families and IDPs in Skopje, Tetovo and Kumanovo.
CARE plans to begin their host families
assessment in the first week of September. A sample of 400 families, representing
5% of the total number, will be assessed. The results of the assessment
are expected to become available at the end of the month. Support in undertaking
the assessment is sought from other NGOs.
The start date of UNICEF vulnerability assessment has been postponed by
one week.
SUMMARY OF AGREED ACTION POINTS:
IFRC/MRC agreed to provide the Swiss Embassy Humanitarian Aid Unit
with a list of host families’ addresses to facilitate implementation
of the cash assistance programme to host families, once funding from the
Swiss Government has been approved.
The American Refugee Council (ARC) agreed
to cooperate with the Red Cross movement to coordinate the distribution
of hygiene parcels to host families and to ensure that ARC hygiene parcels
are consistent with the Red Cross parcels, to avoid delivering different
parcels to different ethnic communities.
The Macedonian Red Cross offered to help
CARE in carrying out the assessment of host families needs by drawing
from its large volunteer corp. The volunteer corp, however, does not include
technical experts.
ARC, MRC, World Vision and Mercy Corps also expressed interest
in participating in the CARE led assessment of host families needs and
agreed to meet with CARE on 21 August at 15:00, before the NGO Council
meeting, to jointly discuss the training of the surveyers.
Three host families assessments will likely be undertaken in the next
two months:
- A vulnerability/psychosocial assessment of host families,
by UNICEF;
- An assessment of host families’ needs, by the
NGO Action Against Hunger;
- A general host families assessment by CARE.
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS:
Mr. Agostino Mulas, UNHCR
Ms. Daria Ferrari, UN OCHA
Mr. William Harper, IFRC
Ms. Bridget Blagoevski-Traoff, ARC
Mr. Warner Pasani, ARC
Ms Jesse Snyder, USAID/OFDA
Ms. Melanie Mason, USAID/OFDA
Mr. Greg Grimsich, Care International
Ms. Daniela Kostovska,
Mr. Simon Taylor, Mercy Corps
Ms. Maria Beatrice Rosa, CRIC
Mr. Pascal Bernardoni, FAO
Ms. Viktorija Anastasova, DRC
Mr. Kiril Tasevski, ICS/MICS
Mr. Besnik Istrefi, SDR/SDC/HAU
Ms. Rose-Marie Henny, SDR/SDC/HAU
Mr. Roberto Barbarulo, INTERSOS
Ms. Rusana Savic, WVI
Mr. Roman Bakik, CESVI
Ms. Andromahi Naumovska, CESVI
Mr. Linod Rushiti, EP
Mr. George Laskaris, EP
DFerrari/OCHA/Skopje
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