DONORS PROMISE FURTHER ASSISTANCE IN MINE REMOVAL IN CROATIA

NEW YORK, Dec 7 (Hina) - A donors' conference on mine removal in Croatia was held at the United Nations' New York headquarters on Tuesday. Promising financial assistance in the year 2000, participants in the event commended the work of the Croatian Mine Removal Centre as well as the Croatian Government for its readiness to cooperate. The event also marked a symbolic transfer of the mine removal programme for Croatia from the U.N. Peace Operations Department to the U.N. Development Programme. An assistant to the U.N. Secretary-General for peace operations, Choi Young-Jin, explained this change with the fact that the mine removal process in Croatia was now being conducted as part of post- war reconstruction and development and not any more as part of peace operations. Attending the conference were representatives of 13 countries and the European Union. They all agreed that the Croatian Mine Removal Centre was performing its tasks in an extremely professional manner. Canada's representative said experts from her country who worked in Croatia and elsewhere believed the Croatian Mine Removal Centre was the best in the world. A deputy head of the Croatian Mine Removal Centre, Josip Tulicic, informed the conference about the Centre's work, whereas the head of the U.N. programme in Croatia, Richard Todd, spoke about the Centre's cooperation with the programme. Croatia's permanent representative at the U.N., Ivan Simonovic, spoke about the role of the United Nations in the de-mining process in Croatia. Simonovic recalled that the costs of de-mining in Croatia amounted to US$150 million, of which 90 per cent had been secured from the budget. He urged countries-donors to increase their share in these costs by at least 20 per cent next year. Judging by the attendance at the conference, this aim will be achieved for the first six months of 2000. (hina) rml