Japan helps displaced Indonesians

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