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is an important cause of the recent massive influx of refugees into Thailand. Help is being provided under the emergency relief programme to these refugees.
53. The dimensions of the tragedy unfolding in Kampuchea are well known. The population is in extreme need of relief assistance. Most of the children are severely malnourished and are suffering from various diseases, which take a heavy toll on those weakened by hunger. The shortages of doctors, hospitals and drugs are accute. It is estimated that only 10 to 20 per cent of land normally under cultivation has been planted for the country's major harvest period at the end of the year, and rice is in such short supply that little, if any, will be available for the forthcoming planting season.
54. It is to prevent the danger of extinction of a whole people that UNICEF, ICRC and WFP have established a joint emergency relief operation. Meanwhile, FAO, through a substantial programme, will be engaged in assisting agriculture and fisheries in Kampuchea.
55. Under the emergency relief programme, estimated food needs over the next six months are some 165,000 tons (mainly rice and pulses, but also oil, sugar, fish, dried skim milk and enriched blended food). The programme will amount to approximately $250 million over the next 12 months.
56.
Since the end of July, the UNICEF-ICRC airlift has delivered some 300 tons of food, medicines, various materials and vehicles. The rate of delivery of these goods is now expanding rapidly. A first shipment of 5,000 tons of rice has already reached Kompong Som harbour and other shipments are following. In this connexion, the Government of Viet Nam has indicated that the Mekong River could be used for the transportation of food and supplies intended for relief assistance.
57. To obtain commitments for the emergency relief programme and to underscore the international concern felt over the plight of the people of Kampuchea, the Secretary-General convened a Pledging Conference at United Nations Headquarters on 5 November 1979. Seventy-six countries participated in the Conference and several were represented at the ministerial level.
58. A total of $210 million in cash and in kind was pledged at the Conference both for the programme of emergency relief to the people of Kampuchea and for the UNHCR requirements to cover the needs of Kampuchean refugees in Thailand.
59. Like the Geneva Meeting on Refugees and Displaced Persons in South-East Asia, the Pledging Conference provided a highly gratifying response to human suffering and distress. The financial resources and the moral commitment for an urgent and adequate relief assistance to Kampuchea have thus been secured. However, the logistical problems continue to be extensive and their solution require practical arrangements and effective co-ordination between the representatives of the United Nations system, ICRC and the competent national authorities. The Secretary-General has received assurances which give reason to expect that the necessary co-operation will be afforded, permitting the expanded programme to be implemented successfully. He will continue to follow the situation very closely and report to responsible United Nations organs as necessary.
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