assistance to the Sahrawis in Algeria.
An amount of nearly $2 million was provided Mozambique for the Special Programme for the repatriation and resettlement of returning refugees and displaced persons. In addition, some $1,580,500 were made available for higher secondary and further educational assistance from the Refugee Education Account. An amount of $170,000 was provided from the United Nations Trust Fund for South Africa for assistance as required to individual refugees.
B. Main developments in various countries
1.
Algeria
90. In response to a request from the Government of Algeria for international aid for the Sahrawis in the Tindouf area, the High Commissioner, who had been requested to ensure the co-ordination of humanitarian assistance for this group, appealed to Governments late in 1976 to give their support to a $5.7 million programme, as well as to donate 10,000 tons of food.
91. According to estimates by the Algerian authorities, the Sahrawis numbered between 45,000 and 50,000 persons, mainly women and children, living in some 20 camps in the Tindouf area.
92. As in 1976, food was a major item of assistance to these refugees who live in. conditions of hardship in a region which offers no possibility of agricultural production. Other items included medicine, tents, clothing, lorries, blankets and basic equipment to improve their living conditions. UNHCR expenditures for this assistance totalled over $1,274,500 in 1977, making a total of some $3,648,700 since 1976. This assistance, provided through the Algerian Red Crescent, was supplemented by donations of food from governmental and non-governmental sources valued at $864,770.
93. Under UNHCR General Programmes in Algeria, assistance mainly in the form of monthly allowances and medical care was again provided to aged and handicapped refugees of European origin, numbering some 500. Subsistence and housing allowances were also provided to small numbers of Latin American refugees. Commitments for these various forms of assistance totalled $42,200 in 1977.
2. Angola
94. In his capacity as co-ordinator of the United Nations Programme of Humanitarian Assistance to Angola, as designated by the Secretary-General in 1976, the High Commissioner continued, until the end of 1977, the task of assisting with the resettlement and rehabilitation of Angolans returning to their homes from neighbouring countries where they had lived as refugees during the years of conflict, or who had been displaced within the country itself. As co-ordinator of this Programme, the High Commissioner appealed to the international community in August 1976 for $32.5 million in cash and 48,000 tons of food supplies. In response to this appeal, contributions in cash and kind totalling $16.8 million had been made available to UNHCR as at the end of 1977. A number of additional projects covering outstanding needs with respect to agriculture, health and social welfare were to be financed from a special contribution from the Organization of African Unity.
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