Notes
from the field ...
Gjakova/Djakovica,
2 december 1999
"
It
will soon be six months since SOLIDARITES resumed the course of
its activities in Kosovo. Six months during which we have distributed,
repaired, reconstructed, but also talked, consoled … Tried to understand,
to make them forget what happened here, while we ourselves cannot
forget what we did not experience. Now, Kosovo shows a radically
different face: well-stocked shops, music cafes, new restaurants
… But what is hidden behind the village with new roofs, is one where
three or four families huddle together in what remains of a house,
where they keep warm as best they can under a tent in the middle
of winter; what is hidden is the sheer quantity that was burned
or plundered, aggravating an already precarious existence. It is
essential that we manage to see part of the population recovering
from its trauma and resuming its social and economic activities
without forgetting the others, who are totally reliant on our aid.
"
Marie-Laure,
Administrative Officer |
2000-2001
: Protecting and Supporting
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Protecting
:
 Distribution
of construction materials
(beams, doors, windows) to enable vulnerable families in the Gjakova
region to rebuild their ruined or badly damaged homes.
Firewood
distribution programme to vulnerable families in the Gjakova,
Decan and Malisheva municipalities, and to ethnic Albanian refugee
families from Macedonia at Prizren. In total, 9,230 m3 of
firewood was distributed to 3,612 families.
|
Supporting
:
1/ Programmes
to support local economic initiatives:
Microeconomic
support programme to assist 15 vulnerable families in the Rahovec
region to resume agricultural activities.
Microeconomic
support programme to assist 53 projects - greenhouse cultivation,
plumbing, pottery, textiles. This programme concerns individual
and family projects in the Rahovec and Velika Hoca regions.
2/ Creation of
a youth centre at Kolonije
This project seeks
to assist Roma children from 6 to 14 years of age, and includes
the construction of the youth centre and playground, followed
by the implementation and follow-up of educational and leisure
activities for the children enrolled.
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18
june 1999-2000: Food, Shelter, Protection, Water
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SOLIDARITES
returned to Kosovo on June 18, 1999, after NATO, and accompanying
the refugees. The UN High Commission for Refugees (HCR) and the
World Food Programme (WFP) entrusted the coordination of humanitarian
aid in the Gjakova/Dakovica region to SOLIDARITES.
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Food
Distribution
of basic food products
(flour, rice, beans, sugar, oil, salt), to
60,000 beneficiaries
among the minorities or vulnerable populations in the Gjakova/Djakovica
area;
Bi-monthly distribution of fresh food products (vegetables
or fruit, milk) to 3,000 beneficiaries (minorities and vulnerable
populations) in
the Deqan, Rahovec and Prizren municipalities.
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Shelter
In the Gjakova/Djakovica region, around 120,000 houses were damaged
during the fighting, of which 80,000 were severely damaged or totally
destroyed. With ECHO, SOLIDARITES carried out an emergency housing
rehabilitation programme, to provide shelter for vulnerable families
during the winter.
Rehabilitation of a Community Centre to accommodate at least
450 people during the winter;
Transport
and distribution of 3700 emergency rehabilitation kits (plastic
sheeting, tools, materials) in order to stop up the houses damaged
by the fighting before the winter in the Gjakova/Dakovica area;
Emergency
rehabilitation of 1500 family units (800 houses) in 18
villages - doors, windows;
Construction
of 29 "starter houses", a temporary solution
for vulnerable families;
Rehabilitation
of 600 houses from autumn 1999 to spring 2000.
Drinking
water
Decontamination of over 453 wells in 83 villages;
Rehabilitation
of the main pipe in the Cermjan water supply network (benefiting
3500 people);
Logistical
support for the Radoniq water treatment plant, near Gjakova/Djakovica;
Support
for the Cabrati waste treatment plant in Gjakova/Djakovica.
Protection
Distribution
of "winter kits" for children aged 2 to 15 years from
1500
families (jacket, socks, shoes, tights);
Distribution
de blankets, mattresses, hygiene kits to
8000 families;
Distribution of 900 "baby kits"
for children aged 0 to 1 year.
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