op 18 front pages-converted - The Watson Institute for International ...

erly preceded by interagency assessment missions, seven such
appeals in a nineteen-month period represented a major influx
of personnel at an onerous cost. The team that visited in
August 1992 to prepare the September appeal had 36 members.
This impression of a revolving door damaged the image
of the United Nations in the region.
In addition, individual U.N. agencies had their own staffs
and consultants to track individual programs and activities.
Once again, data were not readily available on the costs to
agencies and donors, but they were surely substantial and
rivaled the contribution of such persons to program development,
monitoring, and fund-raising.
U.N. interlocutors and resident program staff in the region
found significant opportunity costs in servicing the steady
stream of visitors. The Serbian Commissionariat for Refugees
kept careful track not only of humanitarian needs but also of
responses received, including material aid and outside visitors.
In March 1993, the procession included delegations from
the Secours Populaire Français, the Supreme Soviet of Russia,
the Spanish and Swiss embassies, the parliament of Greece,
UNICEF, Oxfam (U.K. and Ireland), churches in Scandinavia,
the Greek cities of Larissa and Katerini, the Red Cross of Italy,
and the Humanitarianism and War Project research team
itself.
Officials of Serbia and of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
in the region and abroad, lacking prior contact with the
world’s humanitarian institutions, expressed dismay that the
system could not function in a more integrated and coordinated
fashion. Hospitable to their visitors, they nevertheless
pointed out a lack of correlation between the volume of callers
and the amounts of assistance.
How well were international personnel equipped to deal
with the challenges? Many U.N. personnel performed with
dedication and courage. Yet there was general agreement with
the view expressed by Cedric Thornberry, UNPROFOR Head
of Civil Affairs, that to function in settings such as this, “we
need higher levels of political and humanitarian professionalism
than have been brought to bear on the crisis here.”
The United Nations experienced difficulty providing the
requisite training for those assigned to the region. Many were
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