Assistant High Commissioner's visit to Southern Africa

UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner, Søren Jessen-Petersen, leaves Monday on an eight-day mission to review UNHCR's programmes for refugees and internally displaced persons in the southern Africa region. During his three-nation visit, he will travel to South Africa, Zambia and Angola. The Assistant High Commissioner begins his visit to the region in South Africa, where he expects to meet with high-ranking officials in Pretoria to review the Lusaka and Arusha Peace Processes. In Zambia, Mr. Jessen-Petersen will visit refugee camps and assess UNHCR preparedness in the event of new influxes into the country from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola. Zambia currently hosts 38,000 Congolese refugees from the DRC and 75,000 from Angola. The Assistant High Commissioner will also travel to Angola to inspect UNHCR's programmes for internally displaced persons there. UNHCR is caring for some 200,000 internally displaced persons in Zaïre, Uige and Luanda provinces of Angola.