GROUPS APPEAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AID

On November 19 several non-government organizations providing humanitarian assistance in the northern Caucasus made a joint announcement with the United Nations, appealing for US$62 million in voluntary donations for charitable projects in Chechnya and neighboring republics. According to the joint appeal, some 1.2 million people in the region need assistance for the basic necessities of life. Within Chechnya, some 63 percent of working age adults have monthly earnings of less than US$20.

Vastly complicating the task of providing charitable goods and services is the fact that, since 1995, some fifty-seven employees of humanitarian organizations have been kidnapped in the region, and ten killed.