145. The large number of arrivals from Namibia and Zimbabwe created a continuing need for increased assistance in the form of temporary care and maintenance, medical attention, and the provision of accommodation and education, which was implemented by the liberation movements concerned. Specific projects included continued work on the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) school near Lusaka, the extension and equipping of the SWAPO Education and Health Centre at Nyango and the provision of accommodation, storage and mess facilities for women and children at Victory Camp near Lusaka. Other assistance was provided in the form of food, clothing, beds and bedding, medicaments and agricultural tools and equipment. All construction work is expected to be completed in 1979. Activities in favour of southern African refugees included educational assistance to some 150 students and general assistance to over 100 refugees from South Africa.
146. Some 250 individual refugees of various origins benefited fron UNHCR assistance. A total of 78 students, half of them Angolans, wore assisted to continue their education.
147. Durable solutions to the problems of urban refugees remained scarce, particularly around Lusaka, where employment prospects are limited. Consequently, the major part of UNHCR assistance to this category of the caseload continued to centre on care and maintenance, and individuals continued to receive counselling from the service operated under a tripartite agreement between the Christian Council of Zambia/the All African Conference of Churches, the International University Exchange Fund (IUEF) and UNHCR. Work on the renovation and extension of the former reception centre at Makeni, on the outskirts of Lusaka, implemented by the Government and aimed at providing temporary accommodation for over 100 now arrivals, continued into 1979.
148. UNHCR expenditures in Zambia in 1978 amounted to $1,743,500 under the General Programmes, including $1,210,560 for multipurpose assistance to southern Africans, and to $1,517,600 under Special Programmes, including a further amount of over $1,115,500 for southern Africans.
Other countries in Africa
149. In other countries in Africa there were over 300,000 refugees of concern to UNHCR at the end of 1978.
150. Of the total number of refugees, some 100,000 were to be found in countries in central and west Africa, with an estimated 60,000 in Gabon, where 1978 was the first full year of UNHCR representation. In the period under review much progress was made in registering refugees in this country. An allocation of $150,000 was carried forward to 1979 for use in promoting spontaneous settlement in rural areas in the hope of attracting the increasing numbers of unemployed refugees from Libreville. In the United Republic of Cameroon, the High Commissioner provided assistance to persons living in the south of the country, and also made funds available for educational assistance to 42 Namibian refugees.
151. In Senegal, where the estimated caseload remained at 5,000 in 1978, UNHCR continued to channel various forms of assistance through the National Committee for Aid to Refugees. Efforts included the search for employment and the provision of educational aid for young students, particularly from southern Africa. In various other countries in central and west Africa, refugees of concern to UNHCR continued to receive assistance administered by UNDP resident representativos.
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