A/HRC/4/105 Page 16 72. As the Chair of the National Committee on Disaster Response of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC-NCDR), DSWD-DROMIC acts as the lead agency in providing relief services to victims of disasters with the support of local government units and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). 73. The Department has also implemented various programmes under its Disaster Management Programme, such as the core shelter assistance (CSA) and emergency shelter assistance (ESA), to address the number of families rendered homeless due to natural and man-made disasters. The CSA provides environmentally friendly and well-built shelter units which can withstand various disasters, while the ESA provides some degree of financial or material assistance to augment the scarce resources of families in reconstructing houses that have been destroyed due to natural and man-made disasters. 74. DSWD also served as the Chair of the Project Steering Committee for the slum improvement project of the Asian Development Bank which was intended to reduce urban poverty in vulnerable communities through an off-site, off-city relocation package for vulnerable urban communities affected by the MCX Rail Project. This project adopted a strategic framework anchored in a multi-stakeholder or tripartite approach: the active participation of people’s organizations, NGOs, the local government unit and national government agencies were highlighted during the implementation of the project. The 600 displaced informal settlers moved to their new homes in Dreamland Heights after the project was completed. IV. INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE OF THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES 75. In its communication dated 20 February 2007, UNHCR provided the following information. Global development related to displacement and refugee flows 76. At the end of 2005 the total number of persons of concern to UNHCR rose to 21 million, as compared to 19.5 million at the end of 2004. This figure includes refugees, asylum-seekers, returnees, stateless people and a proportion of the global population of internally displaced persons (IDPs). As a result of major repatriation operations the number of refugees fell to 8.7 million in 2005 reaching its lowest level since 1980. 77. In 2006 further progress was made with regard to some major repatriation operations. Since return to Afghanistan resumed in 2002, more than 4.8 million Afghans have been repatriated, however approximately 3.5 million Afghans still remain in the two neighbouring countries of Pakistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran. In the African context repatriation in 2006 included the return of almost 80,000 registered Liberians (half of them assisted by UNHCR); approximately 45,000 Burundians; about 32,000 Congolese refugees repatriating to the DRC, of which 23,000 from Tanzania; and about 28,000 returns to Angola assisted by UNHCR, bringing the organized repatriation operation nearly to a close. 78. On the other hand new humanitarian crises have emerged and in 2006 UNHCR had to dispatch its emergency teams inter alia to Lebanon, Timor-Leste, northern Pakistan and northern Kenya. Developments in Somalia have led to a renewed outflow of more than 34,000 individuals