Japan helps displaced Indonesians

JAKARTA: Japan has agreed to provide US$ 2.4 million under its Trust Fund for Human Security program to support the relocation of internally displaced people in Maluku, North Maluku and Aceh.

The funds, which are part of a $10 million sum pledged by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to President Megawati Soekarnoputri recently, will be used to finance economic revival schemes and education programs in the three provinces.

More than half, or $1.43 million, of the funds will be spent on reviving economic activities administered by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Tobelo and Galela districts in Maluku. The rest will be used by the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) to develop education for children in Maluku, North Maluku and Aceh. Unicef is targeting 500,000 school children in the three provinces.

Japan established the Trust Fund for Human Security in the United Nations in March 1999 to help finance humanitarian projects under UN organizations. -- JP