OCHA Situation Report No. 93
Liberia
26 February 2007


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

HIGHLIGHTS

Refugee return from Guinea continues, as situation in Guinea improves

Community residents in Fassama, Gbarpolu County appeal for basic 
services

Executive Boards of UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA and WFP visit Liberia

1. ASSESSMENTS / MISSIONS / EMERGENCY RESPONSES

Contingency planning for Guinea

The situation in Guinea during the week was reported to be calm 
following reports that a solution to the crisis was imminent. The 
Government lifted the state of emergency and agreed to appoint a Prime 
Minister from a list of candidates selected by workers unions and civil 
society leaders. Reports also indicated that some vehicles have started 
moving across the main border entry point between Liberia and Guinea in 
Voinjama District, Lofa County.

In a teleconference among the six countries likely to be affected by the 
crisis in Guinea, it was agreed that OCHA regional office in Dakar would 
meet with donors on funding needs for a possible emergency. The six 
countries (Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Mali, Senegal, and 
Burkina Faso) would define resource requirements for contingency 
planning and preparedness in the region.

Belle-Fassama District appeals for basic services

During an assessment visit by the Humanitarian Coordination Section to 
Fassama town in the Belle-Fassama District of Gbarpolu County, the 
residents appealed for health, water, sanitation and education 
facilities in their community. There is one clinic in the district that 
caters to over 19,000 persons. People who live outside Fassama walk for 
more than six hours to the clinic. Fassama has two schools ? one is 
public; a Christian mission runs the other. There are no safe drinking 
water facilities in Fassama, with creek water being the main source of 
water supply.

The findings of the assessment mission will be shared with the 
humanitarian community in order to address some of the urgent needs in 
the area.

Joint Executive Board mission to Liberia

A 26-member delegation of the Executive Boards of UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA 
and WFP will visit Liberia from 25 February to 4 March. They will visit 
projects run by these agencies in four counties in order to witness how 
UN funds and programs operate, and how UN agencies deliver program 
results at the national and county level. Meetings are planned with 
senior Government officials, including the President, private sector 
representatives, civil society, and other UN agencies.

2. RETURN & RESETTLEMENT

Refugee return from Guinea continues

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR and its partners facilitated the voluntary 
return of 557 Liberian refugees from Guinea during the week.  Of this 
number, 406 Liberian refugees returned via the former mining town of 
Yekepa in Nimba County on 21 February, and 151 returned on 23 February 
via Voinjama in Lofa County.

The return of Liberian refugees from Guinea was possible due to 
improvement in the security situation during the week. With an end to 
the Guinean crisis in sight, the voluntary repatriation of refugees is 
expected to continue.  UNHCR estimates that Guinea still hosts some 
18,000 Liberian refugees.

In a related development, 176 Liberian refugees returned home on 
February 21 from Sierra Leone through the border town of Foya in Lofa 
County.

Fifty-two Guineans cross into Lofa County

During the week, UNHCR and local authorities screened 52 Guinean 
nationals, reported to be from the Gueckedou area, who crossed into 
Liberia at Solomba Town in Foya District. They included mainly women and 
children, who are believed to be from the local Kissi ethnic group found 
in communities along the Guinea-Liberia-Sierra Leone border.  From 
interviews, the arrivals apparently came to search for food and to avoid 
the temporary insecurity in their communities. They have not been 
declared as refugees.

Returnee deregistration campaign in Maryland and River Gee

A sensitization campaign to encourage local communities to assist in 
providing information on spontaneous returnees is taking place in 
Maryland and River Gee Counties. The campaign is expected to help UNHCR 
and its partners in deregistering spontaneous returnees from Ghana and 
The Ivory Coast.

The Norwegian Refugee Council estimates that as of December 2006, the 
number of spontaneous return to River Gee is between 600-800 persons, 
and 782 for Maryland County. UNHCR and its partners will conduct the 
formal deregistration exercise beginning 5 March.

3. WATER & SANITATION

UNICEF supports sanitation and water projects in Maryland and Monrovia

UNICEF has provided 43 hand pumps (Afridev model), zinc roofing sheets, 
and re-bars for use by nine implementing partners to complete 15 school 
latrines in Maryland County. The agency is also working in collaboration 
with OXFAM and the Liberia Water and Sewer Cooperation in support of 
emergency water supply to the inhabitants of two communities (West Point 
and Happy Corner) in Monrovia.

Hygiene promotion workshop in Bong County

As part of the eleven-community household water chlorination project in 
Bong County, the Bong County Health Team with support from UNICEF held a 
three-day hygiene promotion workshop during the week in Gbarnga. 
Representatives from the eleven selected communities were instructed on 
hygiene promotion methods.

Outreach hygiene promotion in Grand Kru County

The Lutheran World Service conducted a two-day outreach programme on 
hygiene promotion in four communities in Grand Kru County on 23-24 
February. At the end of the programme, target communities will acquire 
useful knowledge on public and personal hygiene and maintenance of water 
and toilet facilities.

4. FOOD SECURITY & LIVELIHOODS

CCF trains women in small business management

As part of its SGBV programme, the Christian Children Fund has graduated 
230 vulnerable women in small business management in Garwular and Tewor 
districts in Grand Cape Mount County.  Each graduate received US$ 50 as 
seed money to start small businesses.

Agricultural assessment workshop in Nimba

The Ministry of Agriculture hosted a two-day regional workshop in Ganta, 
Nimba County on 22-23 February on the Comprehensive Agricultural 
Assessment Study of Liberia.  The objective of the workshop is to gather 
the views of a cross-section of the Liberian population and partners on 
the ongoing process of rethinking and redesigning the national 
agricultural policy. Representatives from UN agencies, UNMIL, farmers' 
groups, agricultural cooperatives, and marketing associations are 
participating in the workshop.

Former combatants' skills training project launched in Maryland

The official launch of a skills training project for 193 ex-combatants 
took place on 23 February in Pleebo City, Maryland County. With funding 
from UNDP and implemented by a local NGO, Project New Outlook, the 
project will train students in plumbing, tailoring, carpentry and 
agriculture. This project is a welcomed initiative as it comes against 
the background of past complaints by some ex-combatants in the county 
that they were excluded from the skills training component of the DDRR 
programme.

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