Increased donor support pledged for UN efforts in East Timor
23 June -- Donor governments today pledged their continued support for the reconstruction of East Timor and the new East Timorese administration, and endorsed a work programme for the territory's development through December 2000.
At the two-day meeting hosted by the Government of Portugal, the donor community recognized the importance of the East Timor Consolidated Budget - to complement the wide-ranging reconstruction programme - and indicated their support for closing the financing gap of $16 million for the next financial year, according to a joint statement issued by the World Bank and the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET).
As a result of the Lisbon meeting, the existing contributors to the World Bank-administered Trust Fund for East Timor expressed their continued support for its activities, while new donors joined in supporting the Fund. "The responses received from Member States and international organizations constitute a vote of confidence and a clear indication that donors appreciated the responsible and realistic budget submission made by the East Timorese and UNTAET, particularly for the revised consolidated budget," the head of the UN mission, Sergio Vieira de Mello, told the group of donors.
The President of the National Council of Timorese Resistance (CNRT), Xanana Gusmao, told the meeting that the work programme endorsed by the conference should include East Timorese people of all political persuasions, including those still living in West Timor. He added that he was "profoundly moved by the fact that the international community has responded so swiftly to the message brought to Lisbon by us, the East Timorese, and knew how to express their unequivocal support."
Meanwhile in West Timor, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) continued to stay away from three major refugee camps in the Kupang area, where its operations were suspended on Monday after several of its personnel were assaulted in violent incidents over the weekend, an agency spokesman told the press today in Geneva. The three camps host 25,000 of the estimated 100,000 East Timorese refugees in West Timor.
"We have requested Indonesian officials to put in place concrete measures to ensure the security of UNHCR staff and other relief workers before we resume working in these three camps," UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said.
