OCHA Situation Report
Guinea
May 2005
27 June 2005


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

HIGHLIGHTS

- 50% fuel price increase
- Third round of polio vaccination campaigns
- EU launches =80 25 million programme for Guinea Forestiere
- Breakout at Conakry prison
- World Bank reviews aid programmes
- Arrival of new UN Humanitarian Coordinator


OVERVIEW

Fuel price increase: One of the main events in May was an increase of
over 50% in fuel price Petrol and diesel increased by 52% and 56%
respectively which immediately affected food and transportation costs.
Fuel prices increased to GNF 3,800, up from GNF 2,500 USD 1 = GNF 3,740.
The last fuel price increase took place in August when prices rose from
GNF 1,500 to GNF 2,500. In the meantime no salary increase has been
announced. However, civil servants benefited from a monthly
transportation subsidy, which increased from GNF 10,000 to 20,000. The
situation is further aggravated by the fact that the national currency
has been steadily depreciating vis-a-vis the Dollar and the Euro as a
result of the scarcity of foreign currency and the increasing number of
transactions that occurs outside of the banks.

The country's main trade union, which includes 17 organizations, called
on the authorities to take appropriate measures to lessen the burden on
the average Guinean, and threatened to make use of legal means to defend
the rights of the workers if no salary increase was announced as of 1
June. Humanitarian operations have been in so far affected as truckers
used by WFP to deliver food to the rest of the country wanted to raise
their prices by 56%. After negotiations with transporters, food delivery
resumed on 30 May.

Prisoners' escape: Another important event was the escape from the
central prison of an unknown number of prisoners, who attempted to storm
the radio station without success. Gunshots were heard in town,
roadblocks mounted in and outside the city. Although only a number of
prisoners could be recaptured, the situation returned to normal on the
same day. The fact that the prisoners' escape coincided with the fuel
price increase raised rumours that another coup was being prepared.

Small arms deposit discovered: Investigations are ongoing following the
discovery of a cash of light weapons in Conakry, reportedly belonging to
LURD and supposed to be used during the 19 January coup attempt. This
event has been connected to allegations that ex-Liberian President
Charles Taylor was involved in the coup attempt and continues to
interfere in the internal political affairs of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra
Leone and Cote d'Ivoire.

A technical mission of Security Council experts on small arms visited
Cote d'Ivoire and Guinea to assess the security situation.

Communal elections: The preparations for the communal elections are
ongoing, as progress has been made regarding the ongoing revision of the
electoral lists. Due to some delay, the elections will take place
between October and December 2005, and not in June as previously
scheduled. The Department of Political Affairs- Elections Assistance
Department fielded an expert to Guinea for two weeks to help the
Government identify costs, communications and sensitization strategies,
and prepare a calendar for the elections. The expert met with the
Government, legislative and judicial bodies, political parties as well
as donors, UN and NGOs. The EU has already announced a contribution of
USD 1.9 million if the government meets the precondition for an
equitable and transparent election.

Students release: Four students from Guinea's main university were
released from detention following a court appearance during which the
presiding judge dismissed the charges. The four had been arrested in
March in the wake of a series of students' protests that had hit the
university since December 2004, notably the demolition of dormitories to
be transformed in lecture halls and demands for improvements in
facilities.

International cooperation:

- The EU started discussions with the Government and civil society
regarding the implementation of the Euro 25 million programme, which
should benefit conflict-affected areas of Guinea Forestiere. The
five-year programme is to start in 2006 and tackles rehabilitation of
infrastructures, income generating activities and peace building
initiatives.

- The Government and the World Bank organised a two-day seminar in
Conakry to review the Bank's aid portfolios and to improve the country's
management of projects. Education, water and sanitation, capacity
building, rural electrification and development were the projects that
were reviewed by participants. The 24-25 May seminar highlighted
weaknesses such as the slowness in the implementation of projects, an
insufficient level of coordination, difficulties in mobilising funds,
and deficiencies in monitoring and evaluating projects. It recommended,
among other things, greater collaboration between the World Bank and the
Government, increased national coordination, capacity-building workshops
for personnel.

- Guinea signed on May 31 the letter of intention and memorandum of
understanding for the 12 month Staff Monitoring Program (SMP) of the IMF
covering the period April 2005 to March 2006. If the SMP is well
performed, it will allow Guinea to accede to the Poverty Reduction and
Growth Facility (PRGF).

New Humanitarian Coordinator: The newly appointed Coordinator of the UN
system in Guinea, Ms Mbaranga Gasarabwe, arrived in May and will soon
present her credentials to the Government as UN Resident Coordinator,
Humanitarian Coordinator, Designated Official for Security, and UNDP
Representative. Ms. Gasarabwe came from Djibouti, where she held similar
functions. She paid her first visit to Guinea Forestiere and border
areas with Liberia, and emphasized the UN policy to assist Guinea on its
way to recovery and sustainable development.

1. SECURITY UPDATE

The security situation remained relatively calm during the reporting
period, despite the prisoners' escape in Conakry and cases of petty
theft and armed robberies in the Guinea Forestiere region. Frequent
cases of attacks on private houses continue to be reported in
Kissidougou and N'Zerekore, which tend to occur at night and during
heavy rainfalls. In N'Zerekore, two GTZ workers were robbed by their
house personnel. A man, alleging to be a WFP worker, attempted on
several occasions to defraud merchants with stolen bank checks in
N'Zerekore and a hotel in Conakry, without success.

2. HUMANITARIAN SITUATION

2.1 Population movement

During the reporting period, UNHCR repatriated 2,137 Liberian refugees,
bringing to over 11,000 the number of refugees who have voluntarily
registered to return home under the agency's repatriation programme that
begun in November 2004. The May figure is slightly lower than that of
April (2,700) Liberians and much lower than the 6,000 monthly average
set by UNHCR.

Most refugees not only do not seem to trust the peace process and
security situation in Liberia, but also hope to be resettled in a third
country. Instead of leaving before the rainy season, they prefer to
"wait and see" the outcome of the October elections. Besides, not all
the conditions have been created for their reintegration in Liberia with
regards to the provision of adequate social services. Despite these
constraints, UNHCR and WFP will test new incentives Offering an
additional monthly ration and financial aid to those who register for
repatriation in several camps to encourage Liberian refugees to return
home. UNHCR currently assists over 50,000 refugees, including 4,000
Ivorians and 2,000 Sierra Leoneans.

2.2 Health and nutrition

The health sector continues to be the most critical one. Brainstorming
sessions held in N'Zerekore and Conakry identified an urgent need to
improve the supply of medicines, staff training and access to health
services. The sector working group on health in N'Zerekore, coordinated
by WHO and comprising UNICEF, UNHCR, UNFPA, The Ministry of Health,
Family Health International and MSF, is currently analysing the
constraints in the provision of health and nutrition services in order
to propose appropriate action to be taken by the Government and the
donor community.

The third round of polio was held from 13-16 May to immunize children
between 0 and 59 months old against a disease which had been considered
almost eradicated and re-surfaced in 2004 after four years. In
N'Zerekore, over 432,000 children were vaccinated, while WHO and the
Government had expected to vaccinate 410,000.

2.3 Water and sanitation

The rainy season has started and will bring about its usual toll of
water-borne diseases due to a lack of hygiene and sanitation facilities
in Conakry and the regions. In 2004, over 1,500 cases of cholera were
recorded between August 2004 and January 2005, leading to 300 deaths.

2.4 Food security

In June, WFP will start distributing normal food rations (2,100 kcal) to
Ivorian refugees living in the Nonah camp instead of 1,600 kcal that
they had been receiving since September 2004. According to a WFP 2004
vulnerability assessment, the Nonah camp is the most precarious of all
four camps in the N'Zerekore area. Nonah is still considered a "transit"
camp while the refugees have been living there for over two years.

2.5. Education

Emergency School Feeding (ESF) continues to increase attendance and
retainement rates of primary schools in areas of low attendance. WFP is
in the process of determining which schools would move over the school
feeding country programme. According to WFP, school feeding is part of
the agency's development programme, while ESF targets only refugees and
host communities.

2.6 Coordination

In order to strengthen coordination and knowledge on HIV-AIDS, Family
Health International organized a two-day workshop to train humanitarian
workers on how to conduct needs-assessments of people living with HIV.
An assessment will be conducted in 50 households in N'Zerekore.

OCHA organized a two-day seminar (12-13 May) to prepare needs
assessments to be conducted in June and to begin in Guinea Forestiere.
The needs assessments had been delayed due to technical constraints.
OCHA Field Information Support Services (FISS) participated in the
preparation of the seminar through an information specialist who trained
participants on information management and sharing techniques. FISS will
also support OCHA Guinea with the establishment of an information
management unit that will be comprised of an information manager and an
information officer. This is part of a programme funded by ECHO to
strengthen OCHA's reporting capacity. The information unit will service
the entire aid community and help prepare an exit strategy from relief
to development.

A number of UN organisations UNDP, UNFPA, UNAIDS, UNOCHA, UNESCO, ILO,
UNDSS moved into a "UN House" in Conakry, signaling the clear ambition
of the UN system to work as a "family".

3. SUB-REGIONAL ISSUES

Guinea-Bissau is preparing for elections on 19 June in which former
presidents Nino Vieira and Kumba Yala are expected to run. The
international community is looking to the polls to restore political
stability and security. However, it is estimated that as many as 15,000
people could flow into Guinea if electoral violence breaks out.

Cote d'ivoire and Liberia will hold presidential elections in October.
All these polls are a reason of concern for the Guinean populations and
authorities because of the potential of violence which could lead to
population displacement. A senior government official described the
upcoming polls as the "most imminent threat" to Guinea's security and
stability, taking into account the alleged involvement of former
Liberian President Charles Taylor. The humanitarian community working in
the sub-region will keep a close eye on these coming events as
population influx in Guinea would further strain the meagre
socio-economic resources of host communities and test the humanitarian
community's immediate response capacity.

In Cote d'Ivoire, the Government of President Laurent Gbagbo and the
"Forces Nouvelles" movement signed an agreement to begin disarmament,
demobilization and reintegration on 27 June. This positive decision
comes in the wake of President Gbagbo's decision to open October
presidential elections to all candidates. With Sierra Leone and Liberia
gradually stabilizing, this development once again raises hopes for
peace and security in the sub-region. Cote d'Ivoire's DDR process has
been delayed several times.

4. FUNDING UPDATE

As of end of May, Guinea's Consolidated Appeal for 2005 had received
only 15.5% of the requested USD 43,743,004, according to OCHA's
Financial Tracking System. UNHCR had received USD 12,631,217 out of USD
million requested. UNICEF funding amounted at USD 1,526,770 out of USD
8,311,136, and OCHA had received USD 284,495 out of the 1.3 million it
requested. OCHA and its sister agencies are presently in the Mid-Year
Review process which will be launched in Geneva in June.

5. UPCOMING EVENTS

- Conakry, 3-4 June: UN Deputy Special Representative for Liberia, Abou
Moussa, will visit Guinea

- Freetown, 10 June: Launch of HIV-AIDS programme targeting Mano River
countries and Cote d'Ivoire

- Conakry, 13-14 June: UN Country team retreat

- Guinea Forestiere, 16-21 June: Needs assessments organized by OCHA and
the Government.

The information contained in this report does not necessarily reflect
the views of the United Nations or any of its agencies.

For further information, please contact:

Ms. Guadalupe de Sousa, Head of Office
desousa1 @un.org
Office phone: +224 46.88.98, mobile: +224 13.35.62.20

Mr. Yvon A. Edoumou, Information Officer
edoumou@un.org
Office phone: +224 46.88.98 ext 2210 ; mobile : +224 13.35.62.23

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