UN refugee agency appeals for $1.06 billion in 2007
Source: Reuters
GENEVA, Dec 8 (Reuters) - The U.N. refugee agency appealed on Friday for $1.06 billion to provide food and shelter next year for millions of people uprooted by persecution and conflict. "A billion dollars sounds like a lot of money, but it is equivalent to just a dollar a week for each of the 21 million people we help," United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres said in a statement. The annual appeal aims to help a total of 8.6 million refugees, 6.6 million internally displaced persons, 770,000 asylum seekers and 2.3 million stateless people. Some $428.5 million -- nearly half the sum the UNHCR is asking for -- is already included in the U.N.'s Consolidated Appeal for all agencies, launched last month for a total of $3.9 billion, a spokeswoman said. The UNHCR's largest operation will be in Chad ($69 million), followed by Afghanistan ($52 million) and Liberia and Kenya ($32 million each). Chad has taken in 220,000 refugees from the conflict in Darfur. It is also grappling with 90,000 Chadians displaced by fighting in the east and 46,000 from Central African Republic. Rebellions in east Chad and north Central African Republic, linked to the long-running conflict in Darfur and combined with local banditry, have led refugees to flee across the frontiers of these interlocking African states. "Chad is a major operation in a huge and complex environment. It is very remote and supplies have to come in over long distances," UNHCR spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis said. The UNHCR appeal is being presented to officials from donor governments in Geneva at a pledging conference on Monday. The United States is by far the UNHCR's largest donor, accounting for nearly $330 million of its budget this year, followed by the European Commission with $74.4 million. Sweden, the Netherlands and Japan are also major donors. "Currently, a small group of countries shoulder most of the financial burden for our work around the world," said Guterres, a former Portuguese prime minister. "What we need is for more donors to dig deeper into their pockets." The UNHCR's budget for 2006, initially $1.15 billion, grew to $1.47 billion through supplementary appeals. Supplementary appeals are also expected to be launched in 2007, notably for Iraq, for which $1.3 million is earmarked in the annual budget, and Sudan, already allocated $13.67 million.
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