80,000 returnees and some 500,000 displaced persons. UNHCR provided direct assistance to some 27,000 former refugees in their repatriation. Under the Programme, relief aid, including food supplies from the World Food Programme, was provided to the returning refugees who were also assisted in their settlement on the land through the provision of tractors, trucks, agricultural tools and seeds. Assistance was also provided in the health sector through the provision of medicine, the construction of a child welfare centre, running costs of a hospital and medical equipment for health centres in the northern provinces.
124. UNHCR thus assisted in the attainment of short-term objectives within the over-all government programme for the development of former reception centres into communal villages, benefiting some 80,000 persons returning to the northern provinces of Cabo Delgado, Niassa and Tete.
125. The World Food Programme, contributing food supplies to a value of $3.7 million over the period March 1975 to July 1978, co-operated closely with UNHCR in implementing this Programme. The World Health Organization included returnees in its vaccination campaigns.
126. The short-term objectives of the Programme have thus by and large been achieved. Longer-term programmes for the further development of the former reception centres into communal villages will continue to receive the support of UNICEF, WFP and UNDP.
8.
Southern Africa (Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland)
127. UNHCR's activities in southern Africa were considerably expanded in 1977 in order to meet the needs of the increasing numbers of student refugees from South Africa entering Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland following the Soweto riots in June 1976, as well as to provide relief assistance to the large numbers of Zimbabwean refugees entering Botswana, most of whom had sought temporary asylum there on their way to other countries.
128. As mentioned in the last report, 18/ a United Nations mission on emergency assistance for South African refugees, appointed by the Secretary-General pursuant to General Assembly resolution 31/126, visited Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland in February 1977. The mission recommended a series of emergency measures calling for a capital expenditure of some $7 million and a recurring annual expenditure of some $1.4 million aimed at providing the three countries with the necessary infrastructure and support for the reception and education of South African student refugees. 19/
129. In view of UNHCR's statutory functions and international responsibility for assistance to refugees, the Secretary-General appointed the High Commissioner as co-ordinator within the United Nations system of assistance to South African student refugees. In June 1977 the High Commissioner appealed to the international community for financial support for programmes totalling $16 million
18/ Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-second Session, Supplement No. 12 (A/32/12 and Corr.1).
19/ See report of the Secretary-General on emergency assistance for South African student refugees, document A/32/65/Add.1.
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