SKARE-OZBOLT: CRITERIA FOR DISTRIBUTION OF AID MUST BE DETERMINED

ZAGREB, July 27 (Hina) - The head of the National Trust Establishment Committee, Vesna Skare-Ozbolt, on Tuesday discussed distribution of humanitarian aid with representatives of Croatian and foreign humanitarian organisations, UNHCR, OSCE, ECHO and the EC Monitoring Mission, the Government Office for Displaced Persons and Refugees reported today. Skare-Ozbolt presented views expressed during her recent visit to Knin, including the stand of the local population regarding discrimination in the distribution of humanitarian aid by various organisations operating in the area. Such a situation directly threatens the process of establishing trust, she said. The session unanimously supported the need to establish a single, co-ordinated model of aid distribution for all those in need of it, regardless of their nationality or status. An initiative on organising a single data base with information on the most destitute segments of population was also supported. International representatives expressed interest in participating in the projects, whereas the Government was entrusted with establishing potentials for providing additional aid for the needy in the areas of special state concern, especially Bosnian Croat refugees and other returnees who have no other source of income. (hina) rml