International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
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Chapter 6
Kosovo – the humanitarian Klondike

 

 

 

Over a million refugees were forced to flee Kosovo during 1999, many at gunpoint. The assault, rape and murder of thousands of Kosovars, plus the destruction of 90,000 mainly ethnic Albanian homes, have taken a heavy psychological toll.

Photo: Boris Grdanoski/AP,

 

The NATO - Serbian conflict during 1999 culminated in the forced exodus of a million refugees and a swarm of hundreds of aid agencies and journalists. This chapter explores Kosovo as a case study of an emergency response that delivered too much of the wrong kind of aid…inappropriate drugs, and too many International health NGO's. The onslaught of aid actually hampered local efforts at recovery.

Box 6.2 Military and private sector challenge established aid providers

Box 6.4 Returning to normal: the role of radio in traumatized societies

Source: UNHCR