The European Commission has cleared humanitarian aid worth million 17.391 ECU for refugees, displaced people and other vulnerable groups in Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, the three independent states of the Southern Caucasus. In the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the three states have experienced ethnic and nationalistic conflicts that resulted in huge movements of people fleeing violence. The aid will be channelled via the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO).

Hundreds of thousands in need

Though open hostilities have ceased, there are as yet no firm peace accords. Hundreds of thousands of people have been left in a precarious situation. ECHO will work with the International Federation of the Red Cross, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Dutch Red Cross, and non-governmental organisations from Denmark, Germany, United Kingdom, Belgium and France on a coordinated programme of relief.

- Food will be distributed to those most in need.

- Healthcare: the medical programme will include the distribution of basic medicines in Azerbaijan and Armenia.

- Shelter: many people are still living in rundown publics buildings, or even in tent and mud dugouts in Azerbaijan. ECHO will fund the construction of prefabricated shelter settlements in Azerbaijan, and basic repairs including water and sanitation, insulation of public buildings housing refugees and displaced people in Georgia.

- Fuel programme: an ongoing operation to provide fuel supplies in Georgia and Armenia will get a boost.

- Winter clothing: distribution of coats and boots in Armenia and Georgia.

- Social: home nursing operation for disabled people living on their own.

BACKGROUND

In Armenia, with its population of 3.5 million, about 1.5 million people are thought to be near destitution, including 380,000 refugees or displaced people. The situation in the mountains is particularly severe. The country has still to recover from the effects of an earthquake in 1988, and expects to import 70 per cent of its cereal requirements in 1995/96.

In Azerbaijan, with a population of about eight million, there are an estimated 800,000 refugees and displaced people, victims of a war with ethnic Armenian forces over Nagorno-Karabach. Though the country has the potential to export oil, people face a very hard winter this year because the harvest was badly hit by flooding and landslides.

In Georgia, where 5.5 million people live, the conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, autonomous republics in the south of the country, have totally disrupted the economy. Agriculture has virtually collapsed, and Georgia expects to import 90 per cent of the cereals it needs this year. It cannot afford to pay and is appealing for humanitarian aid. There are an estimated 700,000 below the breadline, including some 366,000 displaced people.

Information about ECHO is now available on the Internet.

Visit us on page http:/www.cec.lu/en/comm/echo/echo.html