At donor meeting on East Timor, head of UN mission stresses need for sustained aid
22 June -- The head of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) today urged a meeting of donors in Portugal to continue to provide funds for the UN's work in the newly independent territory, highlighting the need for sustained aid during East Timor's fragile transition from relief to development.
Opening the two-day meeting in Lisbon, the UNTAET chief, Sergio Vieira de Mello, said that the UN operation in East Timor was "the first time that we have attempted such an ambitious international nation-building effort," and stressed that the international community has "the unique opportunity and the responsibility to get the development of a country right from the beginning."
Mr. Vieira de Mello urged the group of donors to continue to support the multilateral funds that benefit East Timor, particularly the UNTAET Trust Fund. "I cannot overstate the importance for us of knowing that there is substantial cover in the Trust Fund for the recurrent and capital costs of the East Timorese Administration in the coming year."
Outlining the UN mission's progress since October 1999, the UN official said that UNTAET's main humanitarian accomplishment had been the large-scale relief effort that "spared widespread disease and starvation" and facilitated the return of over 163,000 refugees. The relief programme was carried out by UN agencies, East Timorese communities and non-governmental organizations that acted as "government service deliverers," which greatly benefited the UN mission, Mr. Vieira de Mello said. He added that this help would be required in the coming months during he transition from relief to development and urged the donors to continue their support.
In terms of rebuilding the devastated country, Mr. Vieira de Mello said UNTAET had been working over the past six months towards establishing a major reconstruction and development programme, and had successfully negotiated grants with the World Bank in five key sectors - health, infrastructure, community empowerment, agriculture and education. He said many of the earlier obstacles that had delayed rehabilitation work - slow disbursement from the UNTAET Trust Fund, difficulty in establishing financial parameters, logistical constraints and the tedious process of recruiting civil servants - had been overcome.
