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

aid for a year, and food supply, and distribution activities of
the European Community were also well established.
Once on the scene, WFP had difficulty ensuring a continuous
supply of international food commodities. Despite its
warnings to food donors, warehouses exhausted their stocks
in Zagreb and Metkovic (along the Adriatic) in April 1993 and
in Serbia and Montenegro in May. Purchases by UNHCR and
airdrops of food from outside the region picked up some of the
slack. In late 1993, WFP was again warning donors of another
approaching gap in the food pipeline in early 1994.
Despite occasional shortages, WFP generated during the
nine months beginning in November 1992 commitments of
more than 320,000 metric tons of food aid valued at $225.6
million. These resources had to be mobilized from scratch
specifically for the former Yugoslavia, since WFP was intent
on protecting its stand-by food and funds for emergency
activities in poorer countries. WFP brought to the overall relief
operation impressive skills in coordination, logistics, and
monitoring that were backed by sophisticated data-processing
capacity.
WHO and UNICEF were also conspicuous by their early
absence. Many of their functions were covered initially by
UNHCR; eventually they developed their own programs.
Opening an office in Zagreb in July 1992, WHO gradually
deployed staff and began operations throughout the region.
However, it did not become operational in Serbia until the
summer of 1993, when the needs of refugees and local populations
were already advanced.
WHO’s work was spearheaded by its Special Representative.
By the end of 1993, it had 69 staff members in the field.
Among the 24 expatriates were public health experts and
health system managers; the 45-person local staff was comprised
of doctors, administrators, program assistants, and
support personnel. It also provided 14 different health kits (for
example, for chronic diseases, transfusions, and tuberculosis),
some of them devised with the special needs of the region in
mind. For the two-year period beginning in November 1991,
contributions and pledges to WHO totaled a modest $23.6
million.
To UNICEF, with a tradition of assisting all parties in civil
29