§ Sir David SteelTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessments of humanitarian needs have been conducted by his Department, the European Community and the United Nations in respect of Albania, Bosnia and Croatia for the next six months; what were the results of those assessments; and what funding his Department will provide to meet estimated needs.
§ Mr. Lennox-Boyd[holding answer 20 November 1992]: In Albania an assessment of food needs was made by the European Community in June 1992. As a result the EC agreed further food aid of £28 million, bringing total EC food aid in Albania to £84 million. The United Kingdom contribution to this is £12 million. It is estimated that the latest grant, together with assistance pledged by other donors, should be sufficient to satisfy food requirements up to spring 1993. In addition bilaterally we have contributed £1.5 million to needs identified by various NGOs between September 1991 and November 1992. The EC, United Nations and United Kingdom are also monitoring the situation in northern Albania where there are reports of extensive loss of life following recent floods.
In Bosnia and Croatia, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has taken the lead in assessing needs and co-ordinating the international community's response to the crisis. In September they estimated that total requirements for humanitarian relief for all of the former Yugoslavia from September 1992 until April 1993 were approximately $1 billion; and they appealed for $434 million (£287 million) to meet the highest priority needs. We have responded by providing more than £70 million of which £41 million has been channelled through the EC and over £29½ million bilaterally. Virtually all of this has been 429W used in Bosnia and Croatia but specific figures by country are not available. The UNHCR continues to keep assessments under review.