INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SHOULD AID THE DESTITUTE IN UNTAES REGION ( Editorial: --> 9645 )

( Editorial: --> 9645 ) VUKOVAR, Nov 10 (Hina) - Representatives of the Croatian Labour and Social Welfare Ministry, the UN Transitional Administration (UNTAES), UN humanitarian agencies, the International Committee of the Red Cross and non-governmental organisations met in Vukovar on Monday to discuss social welfare issues in the UN-administered Danube region of eastern Croatia. It was said that it was hard to determine the exact number of people living at subsistence level in the region, but that it was certain that there were a lot of people who needed various forms of social welfare. Participants in the meeting urged better cooperation of all those dealing with welfare issues. Assistant Labour and Social Welfare Minister Marijan Pokrajcic said that before the beginning of the reintegration process 3,500 persons had been receiving token financial aid from self-styled authorities in the region. According to data from the Employment Bureau, there are about 12,000 unemployed persons in the region. The Labour and Social Welfare Ministry has made more than 1,500 one-time payments of 100 to 150 kuna, and has assumed the financing of old people's homes accommodating about 300 beneficiaries. Pokrajcic urged regional social work centres to immediately begin providing all forms of aid envisaged by law. At the same time he appealed to humanitarian organisations to coordinate their work with his ministry to ensure even distribution of aid. UNTAES officials stressed that the responsibility for the welfare situation in the region did not only lay with the Croatian government but also with international organisations. (hina) vm jn 101723 MET nov 97