Action by CHurches Together (ACT)
Appeal - Sierra Leone
Relief & Rehabilitation - AFSL-01  Phase II
Appeal Target: US$ 200,475
Balance Requested from ACT Network:  US$ 0
Geneva,  5 February 2001


This revision of the AFSL 01 appeal covers the Non Food Items part of the
appeal issued in July, 2000 after the May fighting in the Makeni area in
which the RUF rebel forces captured hundreds of UN peace keepers.
Thousands of people were displaced to mainly the Mile 91, Gbonkolenken and
Masimera area. The phase 1 of the Non Food Relief Assistance was fully
covered by the British Department for International Development (DFID),
while the additional funds from other ACT donors covered the activities in
phase 2.  This revision gives details of the activities in both phases 1
and 2.  It should therefore be mentioned that no funds are being requested
in this revision.

The implementation of the activities were jointly carried out by the
Relief and Rehabilitation Department (R&R) and the Development and
Environment Department (DED) of the Christian Council of Sierra Leone
(CCSL) under the management of the Christian AID (CA) office in Sierra
Leone. The activities included distribution of:

   Kitchen sets (pots, bowls, plates, cups, spoons)
   Blankets
   Buckets
   Relief Food


Completion Date:  31 January 2001


Summary of Appeal Targets, Pledges/Contributions Received and Balance
Requested

                                US$
Total Appeal Target(s)        200,475
Less: Pledges/Contr. Recd.    204,138
Excess Funds                    3,663



For further information please contact:

ACT Co-ordinator, Thor-Arne Prois (phone ++41 22 791 6033 or mobile phone
++ 41 79 203 6055)
or
ACT Appeals Officer, John Nduna (phone +41 22 791 6040 or mobile phone
++41 79 433 0592)


Thor-Arne Prois			
ACT Co-ordinator			


 
REQUESTING ACT MEMBER INFORMATION

Christian Aid (CA)



IMPLEMENTING ACT MEMBER & PARTNER INFORMATION

Christian Aid was established in the mid-1940s and is the official agency
of 40 Churches representing most of the denominations in the UK and
Ireland. Its humanitarian work began in response to the needs of refugees
in Europe and it fulfilled a representational role amongst churches in
Europe recovering from the aftermath of the 2nd World War. It currently
works in over 60 countries in partnership with local churches and other
organisations. In Sierra Leone, Christian Aid is the lead agency for ACT.
The agency maintains a Liaison Office in Freetown staffed by two
expatriate personnel (Programme Accountant and Programme Support Officer)
whose tasks are to liase with and support a body of national partners
located in different parts of the country. Principal amongst these is the
Christian Council of Sierra Leone (CCSL). For the past three years,
Christian Aid is the ACT accompanying agency for CCSL's Relief and
Rehabilitation Department, to which a director, jointly recruited by
Christian Aid and CCSL is assigned.


Description of ACT member's implementing partner:

This programme will be implemented through one of Christian Aid's main
local partner organisations, the Council of Churches of Sierra Leone
(CCSL). CCSL has a membership of 19 full church members and 27 affiliates.
Through its specialised departments, CCSL helps in the alleviation of the
suffering of the disadvantaged through education, advocacy, relief,
rehabilitation, youth and women's programmes, capacity-building and
support to rural communities.

This short-term programme is to be implemented by a joint emergency
intervention team composed of staff members from two departments of CCSL:
the Relief & Rehabilitation (R&R), and the Development & Environment (DED)
departments.

The Relief and Rehabilitation Department, based in Bo, has been mainly
involved in distribution of food and non-food items, construction and
management of IDP camps, distribution of seeds and tools, assistance to
vulnerable people, peace education and infrastructure programmes. The
Development & Environment Department, besides its involvement in
development activities through its member churches, has also been engaged
in relief activities, especially following the January 1999 invasion of
Freetown. Together, the two departments were in charge of the management
of the National Stadium between January and June 1999, and were involved
in distribution of food and non-food items to the displaced people.

The two departments have been operating with support from Christian Aid as
well as other ACT agencies and various international donors (including
DFID, ECHO, DGVIII).

CCSL and Christian Aid strive to abide by the 'Code of Conduct' agreed by
NGOs and UN agencies operational in Sierra Leone, and by the Humanitarian
Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response as laid out in the
Sphere project.


Comparative advantage:

During the crisis in January 1999, when all INGOs withdrew due to high
insecurity, CCSL was the only agency that continued humanitarian
operations, setting up IDP camps and distributing food and non-food items
(much the same as during the coup period in 1997). This has led to a high
degree of respect and acknowledgement for CCSL amongst government and
other agencies.

The joint emergency intervention team was formed in July 2000, to respond
to the recent influx of internally displaced people due to fighting in the
area of Makeni. The two departments established a memorandum of
understanding defining the terms of their co-operation and setting up the
procedures of the operations. An ACT appeal was submitted to ACT for this
purpose. Over a period of four months, the joint team carried out a
distribution of non-food item packages to 2,500 families in Masimera, and
2,500 families in Yele, and used clothing and soap to residents of the IDP
camp in Mile 91 This operation was funded by the British Department for
International Development.

The team has also operated in Barbara in Loko Massama chiefdom where they
distributed used clothing and soap donated by Lutheran World Federation to
Sierra Leonean refugees returning from Guinea.

The joint implementation team learnt from the experience of these first
two distributions, and introduced some changes in the procedures
regulating their joint emergency operations. These changes were recorded
into an appendix to the memorandum of understanding.




DESCRIPTION OF THE EMERGENCY SITUATION

Background

An ACT appeal was sent in July 2000 to respond to the sudden influx of
displaced people in Mile 91, Gbonkolenken and Masimera. The proposal was
submitted simultaneously to the British Department for International
Development (DFID), who agreed to fund the totality of the budget. This
programme, which was called "CCSL Emergency 2000 Phase I", was implemented
between July and October 2000. In the meantime, ACT Netherlands and Church
World Services made a contribution of USD 71,000 towards the Appeal. Given
the on-going influx of IDPs, the need for humanitarian assistance to
displaced populations remains high. CCSL therefore proposes to use the ACT
funds, to implement a second distribution of non-food items to IDPs and
returned refugees. The ACT funds will be added to a grant from Feed the
Children Canada to carry out a distribution of food and non-food items to
Mile 91, Loko Masama and Bo IDP camp.

This proposal is therefore a revision of the ACT Appeal AFSl-01 Revision
1, which combines the first and second phases of the emergency programme.


Current situation:

Rebel attacks on rural communities have been characteristic of the
conflict in Sierra Leone. This has led to nearly half of the population
being displaced. Following the peace agreement in July 1999, many have
started to return home and to rebuild their lives. However, in May 2000,
renewed fighting between rebel factions and government forces led to new
displacements. Thousands of people fled their villages and gathered around
the areas of Mile 91 and neighbouring chiefdoms.

Since September, the refugees residing in Guinea have faced harassment
from the Guinean authorities and population, and have been put under
pressure to go back to Sierra Leone. At the same time, villages in the
Northern area of Sierra Leone, along the Guinean border, have been under
attack from Guinea as well as from rebel forces.

These two factors have led to a large influx of people from both sides of
the Guinean border back to Sierra Leone, mainly into the Lungi peninsula.
They arrive with no possessions at all. Several NGOs, under the
co-ordination of NCRRR are relocating them in the surrounding villages.
However, they need basic household items to be able to survive.


Needs assessment 

In developing this proposal, CCSL staff made preliminary visits to this
area to assess numbers of displaced people, identify needs and monitor the
work of other humanitarian organisations, co-ordinated by NCRRR (thereby
avoiding duplication).

The attacks on Makeni, Magburaka and surrounding villages, caused
large-scale population displacement into the Mile 91 area. Since then, a
camp, managed by CARITAS Makeni, was built to accommodate some of the
displaced people, while others stayed with host families. Several NGOs are
involved in providing basic services to the residents of the camp. All
actions are co-ordinated, and CCSL has been asked to provide non-food
items to the residents, who have not received any yet.

In Loko Massama, and in particular in Barbara, the flow of displaced
families is on-going. The displaced families arrive with no possessions at
all, and acute shortages of food, medicines, non-food items and shelter
materials prevail.

Through the work of UNHCR and other agencies under the co-ordination of
NCRRR, the displaced populations coming into Barbara are relocated to
centres in the surrounding villages, rather than encamped. However, before
they can relocated, they need to be provided with basic household items.


Locations for your proposed response:

This emergency programme is targeted at areas most affected by the recent
influx of internally displaced people and returned refugees.

The first distribution was located in:
   Yele (Gbonkonlenken chiefdom), 
   Mile 91 (Yoni chiefdom) and 
   Masimera chiefdom.

The second distribution is to take place in:
   IDP camp in Mile 91
   Loko Masama chiefdom


Disaster and emergency statistics

Over the whole country, a total number of 341,205 IDPs were registered by
food pipeline agencies as at November 2000. (Of these, 200,149 were
registered since May 2000). More displaced people, especially those
staying with host families, remain unaccounted for.

As at 21 November 2000, UNHCR and WFP had registered a total of 11,700
returnees in the Loko Massama chiefdom, who returned on foot or by bus
from Guinea. Numbers are changing due to movements of population, it is
therefore difficult at this stage to give definitive figures. Given the
on-going fighting at the Guinean border and the harassment faced by Sierra
Leonean refugees in Guinea, it is likely that the numbers of displaced
will increase further.

In the Mile 91 area, the number of registered IDPs reaches 36,850.


Current security situation:

Since the upsurge in fighting in May, the security situation has
significantly improved. The arrival of the British Royal Marines and the
on-going training of the new Sierra Leonean Army by British forces, have
been significant factors in stopping the fighting. The recent signing of a
cease-fire agreement in Abuja raises hopes for a settlement of the
conflict. The Southern part of the country, under government control, is
safe and secure. However, the Northern part of the country still remains
under rebel control, and the RUF's commitment to disarmament and to the
opening of the rebel-held areas is yet to be demonstrated. Tension is high
at the Guinean border, in the North and East of Sierra Leone, where
clashes between Guinean forces and RUF factions are causing massive
displacement.



 
GOALS & OBJECTIVES:

The goal of this project is to contribute towards meeting the basic needs
of people displaced by the recent fighting in and at the border of Guinea.

The objective is to improve the nutritional, health and hygienic
conditions of targeted displaced families, by providing them food and
basic household items.


TARGETED BENEFICIARIES:

The targeted beneficiaries are: 

Phase 1:

- 2,436 displaced families in Gbonkolenken, who have been displaced by the
  fighting around Makeni in May 2000
- 2,500 displaced families in Masimera chiefdom
- 625 families residing in the IDP camp in Mile 91, (to receive used
  clothing and soap).


Phase 2:

- 625 families residing in the IDP camp in Mile 91 (to receive non-food
  items)
- 2,000 displaced families in Loko Masama chiedfom, who have fled the
  fighting at the Guinean border.


A total of about 45,750 people are to benefit directly from the
distributions (with an estimate of 6 persons per family). Given the
uniformity of levels in vulnerability among the displaced people, all
returning refugees displaced by the fighting will be targeted.

Whereas in Mile 91, internally displaced people (IDPs) reside in camps, in
Gbonkolenken, Masimera and Loko Masama, they are relocated into villages
across the chiefdom, and hosted by the local population. Thus in that
chiefdom, the food and non-food distribution also indirectly benefits the
host families, as the targeted displaced families will become more
independent and rely less on their hosts' resources.



PROPOSED EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE & IMPLEMENTATION:

Description of assistance:

This project is designed as a one-off intervention to provide household
items to returning refugees and internally-displaced families, while they
are away from their homes. The package delivered includes basic cooking
and eating utensils (bowls, plates, cups, spoons, knives), buckets,
blankets and sleeping mats. These items are the essentials required,
enabling families to collect water, cook and shelter. The size of the
ration per family will be determined by the size of the family, according
to the standardised ration scale agreed among all NGOs.

CCSL will also provide some food items to 1,850 families in Loko Masama.
The package includes rice, peas/beans, oil and salt. These items were
donated in kind by Feed the Children Canada.

The whole operation is part of an urgent emergency response, involving
several local and international NGOs, and co-ordinated by NCRRR (National
Commission for Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction) - the government
body responsible for the co-ordination of humanitarian activities (see
section on co-ordination).


 
IMPLEMENTATION DESCRIPTION PER ACTIVITY:

Personnel

A Joint Emergency Intervention Management Team, composed of 14 staff
members from both the Relief & Rehabilitation and the Development &
Environment Departments will supervise and implement this project.

For the purpose of efficiency, the following teams have been set up:
management, administration, operations, monitoring, logistics and
accounts. The management team will oversee the activities of the project
at policy level and will receive and review reports from the other teams.
The administration team will be in charge of the day-to-day operations of
the project at office level. The operations team will be a field-based
unit and will be responsible for re-assessment, registration, verification
and distribution. It will also recruit local community members on a
voluntary basis to assist in the field exercises. Causal labour will also
be recruited for manual work as required for the handling and distribution
of the items. The monitoring team will monitor all field, store and office
activities. The team will produce weekly and monthly reports.


Needs Assessment

In developing this proposal, staff from the two departments have made
preliminary visits to each of the targeted areas to assess numbers of
displaced people, identify needs and monitor the work of other
humanitarian organisations (thereby avoiding duplication).


Registration and verification

After the needs assessment, teams from R&R and DED carried out in
Gbonkolenken and Masimera respectively, a registration exercise. This was
followed by a verification of the registration lists just before the
distribution.

In Mile 91, the camp residents have been registered by CARITAS Makeni.
CCSL R&R will undertake a verification of the numbers and identity of the
beneficiaries.  In Loko Masama, a local NGO, has been officially appointed
by NCRRR to register the displaced coming into the area. CCSL will use
these lists and verify the caseload, before carrying out the distribution.


Procurement 

All items are to be procured through a tendering process. Inputs will be
procured locally, in order to minimise delays due to transportation and
clearing through customs. Three to five enterprises with the capacity to
supply such large quantities and a track record in supplying high quality
items, will be invited to bid. The costs for the items given in the budget
are based on recent quotes and will be confirmed through the tendering
process. The two phases will be subject to two separate tendering and
procurement exercises.


Storage 

The procured items will be stored in the rented store in Freetown and in
Bo, before their distribution. Additional temporary stores will be rented
at the distribution sites to pre-position the items in Loko Masama. For
the Mile 91 distribution, the items will be stored in the camp store,
managed by CARITAS Makeni.


Transport 

Items destined to Masimera chiefdom were distributed directly from
Freetown, using the Freetown - Masiaka highway.  The Gbonkolenken
distribution was done out of Bo. (Items were first transported to Bo, and
from there to Gbonkolenken).

For the Loko Masama distribution, the items will be transported by ferry
from Freetown to the Lungi peninsula, and then by road to the distribution
sites. Items, which are stored in Bo will have to be transported to
Freetown, before being taken to Loko Masama.

For the Mile 91 distribution, the items already in store in Bo will be
transported by road from Bo to Mile 91. The rest of the items will be
transported directly from Freetown to Mile 91, using the Freetown-Bo
highway.

All transportation will be done using hired trucks, 20Mt and 40 Mt,
depending on the quantities.


Distribution

Distribution will be carried out by the distribution team, assisted by
selected community members. Through the registration process, each family
will be issued chip cards, which they will present in order to receive
their non-food item package. The size of the package will vary according
to family size.


Inputs

For phase 1, part of the non-food items were provided in kind by the
British Department for Development (DFID), while the rest was procured
(with DFID funding).  The phase 2 distribution will include some items
left over from phase 1. The balance will be procured, using funds from ACT
Netherlands and Church World Services. The food rations were donated by
Feed the Children Canada.


Transition from emergency:

This project is a one-off distribution to improve the living conditions of
internally displaced populations. Their situation is however a temporary
one. Once the security situation allows it, they will be able to return to
their home area, and resettle there. CCCSL will monitor this process
closely and is making contingency plans to provide some assistance in the
resettlement process, should the need arise.



ADMINISTRATION, FINANCE, MONITORING & REPORTING:

Administration

This project is a joint intervention between the Development and
Environment Department and the Relief and Rehabilitation Department of the
CCSL. The management team is composed of two members of each department,
as well as the programme accountant and programme support officer of
Christian Aid.


Financial Management and Controls:

For the implementation of the first phase of the joint emergency
programme, a memorandum of understanding was established between the two
departments, defining systems and procedures. On the basis of the lessons
learnt from the first phase, the joint team revised the procedures to
improve further on the efficiency and accountability of the
implementation. Tight procedures have been set up in order to ensure
efficient, transparent and accountable management practices. As in phase
I, all funds received for the Emergency Intervention will be deposited in
the Relief and Rehabilitation Department's Freetown account under its own
discrete code. A separate cash-book will be maintained for the project.
The accounts team will be responsible for the production of all required
financial reports. Christian Aid, through the programme accountant, will
supervise the financial management of the project.


Monitoring and Reporting

A monitoring team has been established for this project. This team will
monitor all operations both field and office from re-assessment of
beneficiaries to be targeted to the production of a final report in
accordance with pre-agreed criteria. In addition, the management team will
undertake regular field visits. Christian Aid's programme support officer
will also monitor the implementation of the programme and undertake field
visits.

The project management team will receive regular reports from the various
teams. It in turn will ensure that all reporting requirements are
satisfied. A final report will be prepared at the end of the project.



IMPLEMENTATION TIMETABLE

The project is to take place over a two-month period.



CO-ORDINATION

This project is part of a co-ordinated emergency response involving
several NGOs and UN agencies. The Sierra Leone government, through the
National Commission for Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (NCRRR),
is the key co-ordinator of all NGO activities. Districts and sectors of
intervention have been allocated to NGOs, to avoid duplication and to
ensure that all needs are met (to the extent possible).

CCSL's work in the Mile 91 area (distributing NFIs to identified groups
and individuals) is being complimented by the work of CARE (providing food
rations), MSF & Africare (Health), MSF-H & UNICEF (water and sanitation)
and Caritas (shelter).



BUDGET 

BALANCE ON HAND 	Le	US$	
     in kind (from DFID)	68,974,400	40,573
INCOME RECEIVED- ACT Network Donors			
       ACT Netherlands	68,000,000 	40,000 
       Church World Services	56,100,000 	33,000 
OTHER DONORS			
     Feed the Children Canada	42,999,800 	25,294 
In Kind:   Feed the Children Canada	110,960,000 	65,271
TOTAL INCOME	347,034,200	204,138



ESTIMATED EXPENDITURE

Description	Type of	No of	Unit Cost	Budget 	Budget
	Unit	Units	Le	Le	US$
Food items					
Rice	50kg bag	1550	40000	62,000,000	36,471
Peas / Beans	50 kg bag	1200	30000	36,000,000	21,176
Oil	litre	4800	2100	10,080,000	5,929
Salt	1 lb bag	2400	1200	2,880,000	1,694
Sub-total				110,960,000 	65,271
					
Non Food items					
Blanket	item	8,100	7,000 	56,700,000	33,353
Bowls	item	5,400	1,250 	6,750,000	3,971
Pots(set)	item	2,700	                  14,000 	37,800,000	22,235
Cups	item	13,500	400 	5,400,000	3,176
Plates	item	13,500	400 	5,400,000	3,176
Spoons	item	13,500	180 	2,430,000	1,429
Aluminum Spoon	item	2,700	1,000 	2,700,000	1,588
Knife	item	2,700	1,200 	3,240,000	1,906
Bucket	item	2,700	7,500 	20,250,000	11,912
Mats	item	8,100	4,500 	36,450,000	21,441
Sub-total				177,120,000	104,188
					
Total				288,080,000	169,459
					
MATERIAL TRANSPORT, STORAGE, WARE HOUSE			
Transport					
truck hire	lump sum			      9,300,000 	5,471
Storage					
Freetown - Transit Store	lump sum			2,000,000 	1,176
Mile 91 camp store	lump sum			500,000 	294
Loko Masama store				500,000 	
Storage of food stuff	lump sum			1,000,000 	588
Handling					
Casual labour	lump sum			1,550,000 	912
Total material transport, storage, handling			14,850,000 	8,735

PERSONNEL, ADMINISTRATION, OPERATIONS & SUPPORT			
Salaries & Benefits					
Salaries & Benefits	lump sum			6,486,154 	3,815
Out of Station Allowances	lump sum			2,000,000	1,176
Description	Type of	No of	Unit Cost	Budget 	Budget
	Unit	Units	Le	Le	US$
Other Staff costs	lump sum			1,000,000	588
Expatriate technical support	lump sum			10,000,000	5,882
Staff Travel					
Local/Regiona Travel - 	lump sum			2,320,000	1,365
Subsistence	lump sum				
Office Operations					
Printing and stationery	lump sum			5,000,000	2,941
Computer consumables	lump sum			1,200,000	706
Miscellaneous	lump sum			2,000,000	1,176
Vehicle Operations					
Repairs and Maintenance - Vehicles	lump sum			3,000,000	1,765
Fuel and lubricants	lump sum			1,276,000	751
Communication Operations					
Publicity				600,000	353
Tele/Fax/DHL				3,000,000	1,765
Total personnel, administration etc			37,882,154	22,284
					
TOTAL EXPENDITURE				340,812,154	200,478
					
					
Exchange Rate:  LE 1,700 = US$ 1 



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Action by Churches Together (ACT) is a worldwide alliance of churches and
their related agencies, meeting human need through co-ordinated emergency
response.  The ACT Coordinating Office is based with the World Council of 
Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Switzerland.
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   Ecumenical Centre                          Phone: ++41-22-791.60.33
   150, route de Ferney                         Fax: ++41-22-791.65.06
   P.O. Box 2100                             E-Mail: act@wcc-coe.org
   1211 Geneva 2                              Telex: 415 730 OIK CH
   Switzerland                                 http://www.act-intl.org



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