GREAT LAKES: UN agencies pledge unconditional support

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

BUJUMBURA, 2 Mar 2006 (IRIN) - On the last day and stage of their three-nation tour of Africa's Great Lakes countries, the heads of three UN agencies pledged in Burundi on Thursday to significantly help the country, which faces malnutrition and food insecurity after over a decade of civil war and regional conflict.

"We committed to the president and the Burundian people our unconditional support," James Morris, the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), said on national radio.

He said the joint delegation had frank discussions with President Pierre Nkurunziza and some cabinet members on Burundi�s partnership with the UN agencies.

The delegation, comprising the heads of the WFP, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, and the UN Children�s Fund (UNICEF) came to Burundi to express international concern about nations in post-conflict settings.

"The reason we are here is linked to the fact that the international community cares about countries going through post-conflict periods and trying to establish democracy and democratic institutions," Morris said.

In a news conference held at the capital's Bujumbura International Airport, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres called on the international community to back the government in its efforts to improve security and respect human rights.

"Governments do not have the capacity to do it all on their own," he said, citing the difficulties countries had paying and equipping their military.

He said it was difficult to understand how poorly paid soldiers could be well disciplined.

The delegation visited a therapeutic feeding centre that is host to more than 300 undernourished children and 100 adults at Gatumba, in Bujumbura Rural Province.

In a statement issued Thursday in Bujumbura, the delegation urged the international community "to match political progress in the Great Lakes region with a new commitment to end the suffering of the millions of people forgotten by the rest of the world."

According to the statement, the agency heads said what they had seen and heard showed the need for closer cooperation to help refugees, internally displaced people and returnees. All three organisations said they needed substantial additional funding for their work in the region.

[GREAT LAKES: UN chiefs push for more aid to region]
[DRC: UN heads drum up support for vulnerable Congolese]

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