High Commissioner wraps up trip

High Commissioner Ruud Lubbers returns to Geneva later today at the end of a nine-day mission during which he met with representatives of the two main Afghan parties and the leaders of Pakistan and Iran.

In his meetings with Pakistan President Mohammed Rafiq Tarar and Chief Executive Gen. Pervez Musharraf yesterday, Mr. Lubbers presented UNHCR's proposal that a joint screening exercise be undertaken in Jalozai to ensure that those Afghans in need of international protection among the some 70,000 persons at the squalid site should be allowed to remain in Pakistan and be appropriately assisted. UNHCR also agreed to undertake a greater degree of monitoring and assistance inside eastern Afghanistan.

All these activities require funding. UNHCR's 2001 budget for the 4 million Afghans under its care is $44.4 million, or roughly $11 per person for activities in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. But because of a global lack of donor support we've had to scale back our programmes for 2001 to only $32.4 million - roughly $8 per person.