ECHO is currently implementing projects in the following sectors:

• Emergency rehabilitation of rural dwellings – winterization kit. The joint UNHCR/ECHO Return Plan, drawn up in May, included the distribution of kits of shelter material and non-food items to returning refugees and displaced persons for self-help repairs. These kits, together with additional winterization material, are now being distributed through a network of NGOs throughout Kosovo (see attached map) to 20,000 beneficiary households in Kosovo. With UNHCR and US/OFDA, a total of 65,000 families will receive shelter and winterization kits.

• ECHO also is supporting the setting up of collective accommodation for returnees/displaced persons through its contribution to, and in co-operation with, UNHCR.

• Emergency rehabilitation and equipment of schools. The restart of primary and secondary school education in rural areas is essential in avoiding an exodus of rural populations to urban centres in Kosovo before winter. ECHO therefore supports an ambitious programme of rehabilitating more than 70 primary and secondary schools in Kosovo as well as supplying them and the pupils with the necessary equipment (through UNICEF).

• Water and sanitation. ECHO will continue its support to emergency water and sanitation assistance in Kosovo, both as an essential part of the shelter and winterization programme and as a way of avoiding the outbreak of epidemics in the province. Many wells have been poisoned and/or mined.

• Health. ECHO continues its supports to the Kosovo health care system, currently focusing on the provision of medical supplies and emergency health care, on support to institutions as well as on vaccination (UNICEF). However, efforts are increasingly oriented towards the establishment of a self-sufficient health care system in the province. UNMIK has already taken a large responsibility in this field.

• Food aid and agriculture. In addition to the basic food aid programme of the WFP, which is supported by ECHO, certain groups of beneficiaries will receive complementary food. Soup kitchens are being set up. Efforts will continue to concentrate, however, on the restart of agricultural activity in Kosovo, including winter wheat and spare parts programmes.

• Mine clearance. ECHO is supporting NGO mine clearance teams for clearance of areas in relation to ECHO projects.

In general, ECHO works closely with the EC Task Force (TAFKO) in all these sectors in order to define a smooth transition between humanitarian aid and reconstruction and recovery assistance. The rapid deployment of TAFKO has proven crucial in this respect, and ECHO hopes to be able to reduce its programmes in Kosovo substantially in 2000.