GENEVA : Rwanda Pledge Appeal

United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali meets today with ambassadors and aid specialists from U.N. states in a special, one-day appeal to raise money for the Rwandan refugee crisis. U.N. agencies and private humanitarian organizations say they need $435 million to cover the costs of coping with the displaced Rwandan population through the end of the year. Roughly half the country’s 7 million people have fled an internal blood bath that began last April.

Donor nations are being encouraged not to earmark contributions for specific areas because the conditions of the crisis could change rapidly, U.N. officials cautioned in the days before the conference began.