A.
CHAPTER VI
RELATIONS WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS
Co-operation between UNHCR, the United llations, and other members of the United Nations system
261. The close co-operation which UNHCR had maintained in previous years with other members of the United Nations system, both at Headquarters level and in the field, was maintained during the period under review. The Office participated in meetings of the governing bodies of other United Nations agencies and programmes, as well as in meetings of the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination (ACC) and its subsidiary bodies. UNHCR was also represented at meetings of United Nations bodies dealing with subjects relevant to its activities in favour of refugees and displaced persons, such as human rights, migrant workers, technical co-operation among developing countries, procurement in the third world and poverty-oriented rural development. Members of the United Nations system attended sessions of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner's Programme and inter-agency meetings sponsored by UNHCR.
262. In 1978, UNHCR continued to work in close co-ordination with several members of the United Nations system to assist refugees from southern Africa, notably in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia. The World Health Organization (WHO) assists with the procurement of medicines, for instance, of vaccine to cure a meningitis epidemic reported in a Zimbabwean refugee settlement in Botswana. Items such as medicaments and tents were made available from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) stocks for emergency relief to Namibian refugees in Angola. The agencies met regularly in Zambia to ensure co-ordination of emergency aid to Zimbabwean refugees following several military incursions and every effort was made to immediately replace items destroyed and, particularly, to replenish WFP food stocks in warehouses which had been bombed. Mozambique, similar precautions were taken following military activities and the agencies collaborated in order to avoid any duplication of effort in the granting of assistance. UNHCR dealt with the problems of many southern African refugees in conjunction with the United Nations Education and Training Programme for South Africa (UNETPSA) as well as the Council for Namibia and provided assistance financed from the United Nations Trust Fund for South Africa.
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263. Within the context of the UNHCR assistance programme for the Horn of Africa, a visit of the UNHCR rural settlement specialist to Djibouti was timed to coincide with the visit of a technical mission from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to study the possibility of establishing agricultural projects. Joint efforts wore undertaken with the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to assist groups of urban refugee students to find placement in academic and vocational training institutions. Both the UNHCR assistance programme for displaced persons and the regular refugee aid programme in Ethiopia were closely co-ordinated with local representatives of UNICEF and WFP. Frequent consultative meetings, to discuss assistance to refugees and displaced persons in Somalia, wore held with UNICEF, UNDP, WFP, FAO and WHO, and joint missions were undertaken with UNICEF and WFP to assess the needs as regards health services, watcr supply and food aid in camps in Somalia.
264. From the outset, the humanitarian assistance programme for persons from Burma in Bangladesh was an inter-agency effort. The programme for the camps in Bangladesh was established in conjunction with UNICEF, UNDP, WFP, FAO and WHO. Thus, for example, an FAO nutritionist organized a team to promote feeding programmes for refugees, particularly children, suffering from malnutrition. WHO experts supported the Ministry of Health of Bangladesh which is responsible for providing health services in the camps.
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