wfn.org | United Nations Seeks ADRA's Lead In Community Service

["Christian B. Schäffler" <APD_Info_Schweiz@compuserve.com>]

July 11, 1999
Adventist Press Service (APD)
Christian B. Schaeffler, Editor-in-chief
Fax +41-61-261 61 18
APD@stanet.ch
http://www.stanet.ch/APD
CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland

United Nations Seeks ADRA's Lead In Community Service 
Activities For Returning Kosovars

Silver Spring, MD/USA    The United Nations this week 
requested the Adventist Development and Relief Agency 
(ADRA) to take the lead in providing community service 
activities to all of Pristina and neighboring regions as 
thousands of Kosovars return to their homes from 
neighboring Albania and Macedonia.

As soon as the city was secured by NATO forces, ADRA's 
team opened its Pristina headquarters and began its relief 
work, operating as a reception and referral center for 
meeting the immediate needs of the Kosovars in Pristina 
and the surrounding region. Because of its initiative and 
recognized community service expertise, ADRA was invited 
by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 
(UNHCR) to give leadership in this sector of the relief 
activity.

As a result, ADRA will arrange hot soup and bread for 
people requiring an immediate meal, food packages with 
one week rations, counselors for traumatized or distressed 
people, medical personnel for initial examinations and first-
aid needs, a day-care facility to occupy children while 
parents secure accommodations, necessary transportation 
to people's destinations, and more. ADRA will also be 
arranging temporary housing, rehabilitating poisoned water 
systems, providing food-for-work programs, reestablishing 
educational systems, and reconstructing destroyed homes 
as thousands of Kosovars return to their war-ravaged 
homes.

"There was a movement of approximately 122,000 
refugees out of Albania into Kosovo during June 15 to 27," 
says Sean Robinson, ADRA Albania director. "This has 
shifted ADRA's relief efforts in this country as well."

At a way station near Kukes, Albania, where 10-14,000 
people are crossing the border every day, ADRA is 
providing each person with a monthly ration of food and a 
personal hygiene kit, plus plastic sheeting to provide 
shelter as they travel back to Kosovo. The plastic sheeting 
can also be used as temporary covering for their damaged 
homes until they can repaired or rebuilt.

ADRA will also continue its primary health care programs 
within Albania, shifting its focus to the Albanian nationals 
who were also heavily affected by the hundreds of 
thousands of temporary residents. 

"ADRA has remained a leading relief organization during 
the Kosovo crisis because of the resources provided by our 
faithful donors in North America," says Byron Scheunemen, 
ADRA International senior vice president. "As the Kosovars 
rebuild their lives in this destroyed region, ADRA is by their 
side."