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ment of local health systems, local education systems, local economic development agencies and local mechanisms for the protection of human rights.
Populations recovering from conflict have not only lost material goods, but have also been deprived of their rights as citizens, their personal security and their freedom of movement and of expression. Working closely with UNHCR, PRODERE first helps to provide protection and documentation to the displaced persons, and later provide assistance for repatriation and resettlement at the local level through national institutions responsible for the protection of human rights.
Credit programmes run either by national or international agencies can be inaccessible to the majority of the population who lack the required collateral. Development is often further complicated by the political divisions, mass migration and complex repatriation process resulting from years of civil war, in addition to the problem of finding jobs for thousands of demobilized soldiers and war invalids. Consequently, PRODERE has encouraged the creation of local economic development agencies, which promote the best possible use of local economic, environmental and human resources through the active involvement of local public and private bodies, including government, business and professional organizations, NGOs, grassroots associations, trade unions, etc.
The role of women in development is specifically promoted by the United Nation's Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). It provides direct financial and technical support to women in developing countries, who are striving to raise their standard of living. It was established in 1978 at the end of the United Nations Decade for Women (1976 1985) in autonomous association with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
UNIFEM recognizes that displaced and refugee women have particular needs and concerns, from food distribution to health care to protection from sexual abuse. Since 1990, a number of activities related to displaced women have been carried out, including 'Planning and Afghan Women'. This programme, undertaken in collaboration with UNICEF, focuses attention on the plight of Afghan women, examining the possibility of including gender concerns in development planning.
African Women in Crisis (AFWIC) is a UNIFEM umbrella programme, designed to protect and empower African women who have been displaced by crises from their home communities. AFWIC seeks to promote a gender sensitive development' which ensures that women are viewed as both crucial resources and participants in disaster prevention and mitigation, that is, 'to place African women at the centre of the search for solutions'.
World Health Organization
Health care can provide a common goal for those who have been in conflict, as shown by the experience programmes such as that of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Mozambique.
The WHO programme shows how reconciliation between the two previously warring factions made it possible to provide health care to areas which had been inaccessible for ten years. Under WHO auspices, mobile health teams and programmes including an extended immunization programme have been set up in several provinces. In the province of Zambezia, an emergency programme and a development programme - both with the aim of improving community health, giving priority to mother and child care - are under way.
Stress is placed on the development of local mechanisms to combat social exclusion and establish the basis for socio-economic recovery, that is, through local health systems, local education systems, local economic development agencies and local mechanisms for the protection of human rights.