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Kosovo May Become Reconstruction Model
Assistant Sec. State Taft on Rebuilding Kosovo - 14 July 1999

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KOSOVO - Official U.S. Government Documents For more information regarding the latest policy statements and other materials related to the Kosovo crisis, visit  http://www.usia.gov/regional/eur/balkans/kosovo/
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Kosovo May Become Reconstruction Model
 14 July 1999

(Three years for rebuilding estimated)
By Wendy Lubetkin
USIA European Correspondent

Geneva -- U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration, Julia Taft says the international community has an important opportunity to make Kosovo a model for future reconstruction and development efforts.
     In a speech to the U.N. Economic and Social Council, Taft pointed out that the humanitarian community has frequently been criticized for failing to ensure that programs providing emergency relief are followed by support for longer-term goals to stimulate development.
     "In this regard, the current efforts in Kosovo represent a clear opportunity to provide an effective continuum," Taft said July 14. "There is strong political and financial support from donors and an active participation by local stakeholders. We can and must make Kosovo a successful model."
     Speaking later at a press conference, Taft said the international community should not provide only those supplies needed immediately for reconstruction. "We have to really look at how we can help the economy get jump-started so that the people themselves can rebuild their homes, or hire contractors."
     Taft, who had just returned from a trip to Kosovo and other countries in the region, said she believes Kosovar Albanians today feel a "mixture of euphoria and hope, and real trauma."
     "They have rushed back to their homes, they are starting to work the fields; they are starting stores. They are really getting very excited about rebuilding, and yet the memories of what they have gone through as a people are very much with them."
     Taft said the United States has recently contributed $200 million to the Kosovo relief effort and expects to contribute an additional $200 million over the next several months in assistance not only for Kosovo but also for the Former Yugoslav Republic (FYR) Macedonia and Albania.
     Initial estimates indicate it will cost $1,500 million to reconstruct Kosovo, she said, but any current estimates are preliminary while a village-by village-assessment is underway. Asked how long reconstruction will take, Taft responded "probably about three years."
     Taft said it is important that the money invested in reconstruction stays in the region insofar as is possible. "If you consider all the money that the donors are going to be putting in just for the emergency phase of Kosovo, we are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars."
     "We should not be using this money to import a lot of commodities from western Europe and from the United States. We really have to think of how we are going to keep those resources there and use them for job creation."

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