EXPLANATORY NOTE ON PROJECTS AND PROGRAMMES
FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Through the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum", the Holy See has moved along three principal lines during the year 1998:

1. The John Paul II Foundation for the Sahel, established by Pope John Paul II in 1984, offers assistance in nine countries: Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Chad, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal. From 1984 to 1995 over 1800 programmes have been subsidized, for a total outlay of FF55,532,646, equal to approximately 16.67 billion Italian lire. These projects help in the training of specialized personnel for the fight against drought and desertification, and in the formation of community leaders. They also assist in hydroagricultural and healthcare projects. In the three-year period 1996 to 1998, according to unofficial statistics, the Foundation has subsidized approximately 600 projects for a total outlay of more than 5 billion lire.
2. The "Hundred Projects of the Holy Father" Programme, launched by the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum" in preparation for the Great Jubilee, will come into full operation in 1999. It began work in the second half of 1997 by seeking and selecting projects in every part of the world, connected with the promotion of human and Christian development. Well over a hundred projects -- the number has in fact risen to almost 200 -- coming from Dioceses in developing areas have been recommended to Dioceses in more affluent countries, which are responding especially generously in the fields of education, youth training, healthcare, and the care and education of street children. The beneficiaries are: Congo-Brazzaville (a youth training project, US$12,000), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (rebuilding a youth centre destroyed by the war, US$16,500; a project for the care of farm animals, US$15,000; construction of a medical-healthcare dispensary for ten villages, US$25,000; healthcare assistance for the elderly sick, US$20,000; aid to street children, US$5,500), Uganda (education and food assistance programmes for children, US$20,000; healthcare assistance for the elderly and for orphans aged up to 16, US$20,000; agricultural training, US$15,000; the training of young girls and women in agricultural production, US$20,000), Burundi (a centre for social misfits and children, US$20,000), Rwanda (youth training, US$18,000; a school programme for poor children with special emphasis on peace education, US$20,000) and Lesotho (the building and equipping of a nursery school, US$20,000).
3. With regard to disaster relief and contributions to projects for human promotion, the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum" -- by direct order of the Holy Father -- set aside in 1997 the sum of US$1,720,000, equivalent to approximately 3 billion Italian lire. In this context, the Sub-Saharan countries assisted have been: Cape Verde (US$10,000), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (US$380,000), Uganda (US$60,000), Burundi (US$80,000), Central African Republic (US$10,000), Zambia (US$15,000), Rwanda (US$20,000). In the first half of 1998, the following countries from the same area have received assistance: the Democratic Republic of the Congo (US$15,000) and Zambia (US$10,000). It should be noted that this assistance is given only in response to requests from individual particular Churches.

It may be added that -- according to available information -- during 1997 and the first half of 1998 the Caritas network, part of the Caritas internationalis Confederation, has made total outlays of US$21,650,000 in humanitarian aid and for recovery and reconstruction following disasters in 22 African countries.

(End)