Liberia - DHA-79: 14.Jul.97

LIBERIA
HUMANITARIAN SITUATION REPORT

Period covered: 14 July 1997 - No. 79


The information contained in this report was provided by the Office of the
United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Liberia


NOTE: These reports -- whose aim is to focus on broad issues and themes
affecting the humanitarian community in Liberia as well as give regional
situation updates -- are now being issued biweekly. In the interim weeks, the
Humanitarian Activity Report is issued. It provides an update on the sectoral
activities of UN Agencies and International and National NGOs in Liberia. 


SOUTHWESTERN LIBERIA

Fighting between the combined RUF/SLA forces and the Kamajors along the Mano
River border between Sierra Leone and Liberia have exacerbated a growing
problem in the southwest -- particularly in the area of Bo (Waterside), Grand
Cape Mount County. The conflict has called renewed attention to the
connection between the crises in Sierra Leone and Liberia. 


Background

Since the coup in Freetown, the border area in southeast Sierra Leone had
been controlled by the Kamajors. No significant movements of civilians were
recorded in this area, while cross border market activities continued without
incident. However, the 13 June death of the Chief of the Kamajors in Bah,
Sierra Leone triggered a series of retaliatory attacks by the Kamajors on the
combined SLA/RUF forces in southeastern Sierra Leone. These clashes induced
many Sierra Leoneans to move towards Liberia in advance of the fighting. Many
of those crossing into Liberia did so in the area between Bo(Waterside) and
Kongo, moving into the towns and villages already predominantly occupied by
older caseload Sierra Leonean refugees. Numbers of new asylum seekers since
13 June are estimated at approximately 10,000. 

On Sunday 6 July 97 RUF/SLA elements attacked the Sierra Leonean side of the
Mano River opposite Bo(Waterside). In the ensuing attack on the Kamajor
positions, a number of mortar rounds impacted in the Liberian Bo community
creating panic among the residents.  Nigerian ECOMOG took up defensive
positions along the river.  The SLA/RUF element overran the Kamajor positions
capturing many, while some 140 fled across the bridge towards the Nigerian
ECOMOG troops. The Kamajors have been housed in Tieni and Bo(Waterside). 
Also fleeing across the bridge that night was a large number of civilians. An
assessment indicated that the figure did not exceed 1,500-2000 persons.
However, these newly displaced persons are the only ones of the new arrivals
that fled under duress, without personal belongings.  An assessment completed
by the local NGO Concerned Christian Community (CCC) indicated that of 100
newly-arrived women surveyed, 44 percent had been raped, while 27 percent
suffered assault related injuries. 

On Thursday 10 July 97 an early morning attack in Sierra Leone again spilled
over into Liberia when three RPGs struck homes in Bo(Waterside). Ten
civilians were wounded, three of them seriously.  They were evacuated to
Monrovia for treatment by the MILOBS.  In the meantime, the shelling and
ensuing panic brought about the complete exodus of the population, who fled
along the highway to the east toward Tieni. In the incident, the SLA/RUF
elements sent two Kamajor prisoners across the bridge to ECOMOG.  The
prisoners, who showed signs of extensive beatings, were bound by the upper
arms and had their arms from the elbow down amputated and their genitalia
mutilated.  A note accompanying the prisoners was explained to contain a
message to ECOMOG that the SLA/RUF contingent was not intending to fight
ECOMOG, only forces supporting the deposed President Kabbah. By that evening,
ECOMOG had moved to seal Bo(Waterside)from outside traffic.  More fighting
and shelling took place that evening.  UNOMIL Military Observers were
temporarily pulled out as well. 


Humanitarian Assistance

Responses to the situation have been cautious.  UNHCR has conducted limited
distributions of soap, sleeping mats and salt.  WFP has provided a limited
one-month ration to the communities in the Bo-Kongo corridor, targeting new
arrivals and current residents alike. However, additional concerns have
surfaced.  Based on interviews, WFP monitors hold strong suspicions that a
number of the new asylum seekers, young men, are RUF elements. 

UN Agencies and NGOs met to discuss responses on 9 July 97 and again on 11
July 97. In the first meeting UNHCR provided that, in consultation with
LRRRC, it was considering setting up a camp for the new case of asylum
seekers. Transit facilities would be established in Tieni and Dambala. The
reasoning behind this suggestion drew upon two factors: the immediate
security threat from cross-border attacks/hot pursuit retaliations and the
difficult access to the communities north of Bo(Waterside) due to the
continued deterioration of the roads in the region. Offers of assistance were
provided by Oxfam and MDM in the areas of health and from EU and LWS/WF for
roads and bridge work. Concerns were raised over the necessity of the new
camp. However, UNHCR stressed that this plan was preliminary and that the
preferred site, Sinje, had yet to be confirmed by the LRRRC. UNHCR noted that
it was in discussions with IFRC to manage the camp as well as to provide
water and sanitation. 

UNHCR also briefed that their worst case scenario projected a displacement of
some 200,000 Sierra Leoneans into Liberia.  This was broken down roughly into
equal numbers of 100,000 each that might enter into Grand Cape Mount County
and the Vahun area of Lofa County. The Vahun area is a concern in that the
entire area is inaccessible by road. However, current resources do not exist
in country for such an eventuality and resource mobilisation is underway. 

In the second meeting the situation was revisited, specifically focusing on
the displacement of the population from Bo(Waterside.) The current security
situation was reviewed and there was general caution about doing too much too
soon.  The specific concerns lay on the presence and co-mingling of Kamajor
combatant elements with the Bo population and of RUF elements among the
population in the Dambala-Kongo area.  Should a camp or transit facility be
established then there would be a high probability of combatant elements
sheltering in the camp/facility. An additional concern raised was that any
relief effort mounted should not focus solely on refugees/asylum seekers but
include those Liberians who have been displaced by the security incidents
along the border. With these concerns noted, the humanitarian community will
mount an assessment to the area.  Sector teams will proceed separately
looking at shelter, health, food and nutrition, water and sanitation,
tracing, access and security. Sector teams will meet to report on 15 July 97
and to recommend interventions as necessary. 


Monrovia-based interventions in Sierra Leone

Clashes between the SLA/RUF forces and the Kamajors in southeastern Sierra
Leone forced the ICRC to withdraw its team from Zimmi, 250km east of
Freetown, on 7 July.  ICRC expressed concern over the possible risks of a new
wave of malnutrition sweeping the country because of the large numbers of
internally displaced persons.  The evacuated staff members are now in Kenema,
but will soon be moved to Monrovia for a short break. 

NGOs based in Monrovia have been reliant on chartered helicopters to support
their operations in Sierra Leone.  Most recent efforts include: ICRC shipment
of two MTs of medical supplies from the British Red Cross, among other
donors, to Kenema; MERLIN continued support to its therapeutic feeding centre
in Kenema; ACF support to operations in Freetown and Bo; MSF support for
Freetown clinic operations. However, this service will be interrupted when
UNOMIL charters the aircraft for elections support.  In response, ICRC has
chartered a private yacht which will provide more cost-effective transport of
cargo from Conakry to Freetown. 

ICRC and MSF report that Freetown is relatively quiet although the effects of
the embargo are increasingly being felt. Food is still available. Prices are
high but stable.  MSF also reported no incidents during road movements from
Freetown to Bo and Gambia. 


ELECTIONS UPDATE

Based on preliminary figures, UNOMIL observers characterize voter
registration as "fairly positive." Campaigning continues to be marred by
several incidents of violence between political parties. As elections
approach, humanitarian community is adopting a cautious approach, scaling
back on activities, personnel and vehicles in country. 

On 8 July, the Independent Elections Commission (IECOM) was forced to call a
press conference to refute rumours that it was considering postponing
elections, saying they will "unfailingly" take place on 19 July. The rumour
stems from a recent spat of local newspaper articles reporting on the efforts
of 12 of the 13 political parties -- excluding Charles Taylor's NPP -- to
pressure the IECOM for a rescheduling of the 19 July election date in light
of "irregularities" they believe prevent "free, fair and credible" elections. 

The irregularities referred to in the press include reports of fraud in the
voter registration process, the lack of voter education, absence of voter
registration centres -- due to logistical constraints -- in some areas of the
country and the extension of the voter registration period. 

But despite allegations in the press, UNOMIL elections observers report that
voter registration ended on 6 June as successfully as could be expected given
the logistical constraints faced by IECOM. In Montserrado County, 277,620
people registered to vote. UNOMIL observers report that the number is "a
little more than expected" and a "fairly positive development."  Voter
registration numbers for the rural counties are not yet available. Although
registration got off to a rough start, UNOMIL reported that all but fewer
than 100 of the 1,564 sites planned for did indeed open. In areas where the
sites did not materialize, usually due to impassable roads or other
logistical constraints, voters were referred to other nearby sites.  Due to
the unrest in the Bo(Waterside) area and the subsequent movement of the
population, the polling site and the electoral observers there have been
moved to Sinje. 

The exhibition stage -- where the voter rolls are displayed at each site for
public scrutiny -- began 9 July. Still strapped by a lack of logistical
support, documents used to challenge and correct any contested names were
distributed to only 50 percent of the sites. Exhibition is thus not taking
place in a significant number of voting locations. 

To avert the logistical confusion that characterized the first days of voter
registration, one IECOM official has been appointed to oversee logistics on
voting day with coordination and technical support from UNOMIL. 

Ballot boxes from Sweden have arrived in the country and are under ECOMOG
guard at the Robertsfield International Airport. Ballot papers from Ghana
were scheduled to arrive on 11 July. 

Campaigning has been marred by a few violent flare-ups between political
parties, including a clash on 30 June in Ganta between NPP and ALCOP, which
left six injured before being quelled by ECOMOG forces.  Four of the 13
political parties have complained to the IECOM about violent attacks on their
supporters during campaigning. But overall, the campaigns have progressed
peacefully. And, according to UNOMIL, all of the "heavyweight"candidates,
including Tipoteh, Matthews, Sirleaf and Al Hadji Kromah, have agreed not to
boycott the elections. 

Security during the election will be provided by ECOMOG, which will be
receiving two more helicopters specifically for deployment.  ECOMOG will be
using all their vehicles (est. 100) and 7,000 troops for elections security. 
Election security deployment will last for at least one month after
elections, more for internal logistics reasons than security concerns.
However, ECOMOG is concerned about stability and security and will monitor
the situation countrywide. If security problems arise, ECOMOG will maintain
deployments on a selective basis. 

Nonetheless, in light of these incidents and the belief that large arms
caches remain in the country -- ECOMOG made two seizures in Bong County in
the last month -- most of the INGOs are taking precautions, which include
sending all non-essential staff out of the country, temporarily removing
vehicles to the Ivory Coast, and scaling down activities in the days prior to
and after the elections. 


EDUCATION SECTOR

More schools operating throughout the country than ever since the war, but
the system is still woefully inadequate, with thousands deprived of their
basic right to education and projections of one of the world's lowest
literacy rates. Despite current programmes, the system will not be able to
support a large movement of returnees. 

Formal schooling in Liberia has been severely disrupted by the civil
conflict, especially following the April 1996 fighting in Monrovia.  School
buildings have been destroyed, school materials including basic benches and
blackboards were looted and teachers and students have been displaced
resulting in a non-functioning system. Only recently have schools been
re-opened outside of Monrovia in a limited number of areas countrywide with
minimal support. 

Educational support programmes in Liberia concentrate on four areas: school
feeding, in-service teacher training, distribution of educational materials
and school renovation.  The aim is to:  provide children with their basic
human right of access to learning;  facilitate a return to normalcy by
returning kids to school;  and sustain a culture of learning that will
encourage people of all ages to continue their education. 

Until recently, educational support activities were centered in Monrovia and
surrounding accessible areas as far as Buchanan.  Support to emergency
shelter schools in Monrovia and environs, primarily for internally displaced
students, has been sustained by a number of organisations and include the
four main categories of support.  Tear Fund and LWF/WS supports the
renovation of school shelters while UNICEF and the Church-Related Educational
and Development Organisation (CREDO), a national NGO, provide educational
materials to shelter schools as well as non-educational materials such as
used clothing, which is hoped to encourage the teacher and student
populations to return to school. UNICEF and LWF/WS, in partnership with the
MOE, sponsor in-service teacher trainings and the Adventist Development and
Relief Association (ADRA) distributes food for WFP under its emergency school
feeding programme. 

But in the first major educational initiative outside Monrovia since 1991, a
memorandum of understanding was signed between UNICEF, UNOPS and WFP which
allows for the reactivation of 1,830 primary schools in Montserrado, Grand
Bassa, Margibi, Bong, Nimba and Lofa counties during 1997 and 1998. UNICEF
will provide educational materials, through their implementing partners
LWF/WS, PMU InterLife and CREDO, and in-service teacher training in
partnership with the MOE, to all schools while WFP and their implementing
partners (WVI, LWF/WS, UMCOR) have agreed to provide food-for-work for
teachers and support staff and one meal per day to students under its
Emergency School Feeding programme.  UNOPS has also agreed to rehabilitate 35
schools throughout the six counties. There is limited educational assistance
beyond the UNICEF/UNOPS/WFP initiative up-country. The focus has been on
school renovation and is undertaken by a number of NGOs including Tear Fund,
LWF/WS, Action Aid, CCC and Liberian Opportunities Industrial Centre. 
Additionally UNICEF has recently received funding to revitalize 50 additional
schools country-wide.  It is estimated that a total of 250,000 students and
teachers are presently benefitting from the combined programmes. 

Assistance in curriculum development and textbooks has been woefully
inadequate countrywide.  There are, however, three initiatives to address
this problem.  UNESCO, MOE and UNICEF are revising and printing K-12
curriculum.  The revised curriculum is expected in schools in September. The
EU has recently provided funding to UNICEF to revise and print primary school
textbooks in the four main subjects of math, science, social studies and
language arts.  The textbooks will be available in 1998. Also, UNICEF in
partnership with LWF/WS is sponsoring a mobile library programme that
distributes books and reading material to 24 shelter schools in Monrovia
benefitting over 10,000 students.  They seek to expand this programme
elsewhere. Plans are also underway for UNICEF to revitalize curriculum
materials centres in six counties offering services to reproduce
instructional materials. 

Some organisations are beginning to go beyond basic educational support in
offering programmes in reconciliation and non-formal education. UNICEF, in
partnership with the national NGO Christian Health Association of Liberia
(CHAL), offer a programme of Peace Education and Conflict Resolution in 64
schools in six counties.  The programme conducts workshops with teachers and
students concentrating on trauma counseling, causes of conflict and conflict
management.  The programme also establishes an on-site conflict resolution
room supported and managed by teachers and students where students can go to
discuss and resolve disputes. Specialized programmes of educational support
for disaffected youth are promoted by both UNICEF and SCF-UK.  The
USAID-funded and UNICEF- administered War Affected Youth Support (WAYS)
programme offers non-formal education in basic numeracy and literacy combined
with skills training, trauma counseling and reconciliation to more than 8,500
youths. 

While there are no comparative statistics, it is felt that more schools are
operating in more of the country than ever before.  However, serious concerns
remain. 

No free access to all: Educational opportunities are not available to all
students in all parts of the country.  While there are community-supported
educational initiatives on-going throughout the country, there are no
sustainable educational interventions in five of the thirteen counties. These
include River Cess, Grand Gedeh, Sinoe, Grand Kru and Maryland counties. 
Additionally, educational support programmes are limited to school
renovations in Bomi and Grand Cape Mount counties.  Thousands of Liberian
children are being deprived of their basic human right of access to
education. 

Limited literacy programmes: Prior to the war, Liberia had one of the highest
illiteracy rates in the world. It was estimated that about 73 percent of all
Liberians in 1989 were illiterate. The situation is assumed to have
deteriorated.  Yet, there are presently very few literacy programmes
operating in the country. Action Aid, a relatively new INGO, has recently
completed an assessment of schools in Grand Cape Mount and lower Lofa
counties and plans to conduct literacy programmes.  UNICEF and SCF-UK, with a
number of local partners, support functional literacy programmes combined
with vocational training at several sites in seven counties.  Few teachers
remain in the country, with limited training and incentives.  Many trained
teachers have fled the country during the war.  The teaching staff that
remain have not had any refresher training in six years with the exception of
limited in-service trainings. Additionally new teachers who enter the
classroom in hopes of benefitting from the small incentive programmes have
not had any formal training.  For the majority of teachers the only incentive
for teaching is food supplies provided through WFP's Emergency School Feeding
programme. 

No programmes to address the needs of young adults wishing to return to
school.  All Liberian students have had their education interrupted several
times during the course of the conflict.  Some of these students have
prevailed and continued their education to graduation, however, the majority
of students simply left school and have not returned.  It is assumed that
many of these students are now beyond the normal school age and may be
reluctant to return to a formal classroom environment where they may be
grouped with students much younger. Currently there are no plans to offer
programmes of accelerated learning.  If specialized programmes are not
developed to capture this student population, it is feared that these
individuals may choose not to continue their education. 

The present educational system cannot support a massive return of refugees or
IDPs. There are not adequate facilities or support programmes to offer
education to large numbers of returnees.  Many refugee students have had
continued uninterrupted education in their country of asylum for the past
seven years.  Their educational needs will be different from their peers at
home.  In Guinea alone, there are an estimated 40,000 refugee students who
have typically been able to progress at a steady pace reaching to high
school. These students will require not only primary but secondary education,
of which there are few options outside of Monrovia.  They also seek
post-secondary educational opportunities. Refugees and IDPs cite access to
education as one of the key factors affecting their decision to return home. 

Few secondary schools in operation: There are few secondary schools outside
of Monrovia none of which have appropriate facilities to teach basic or
advanced subjects. 

For many students the lack of appropriate secondary education facilities and
teaching materials is a high deterrent to continuing their education. 

This report is available on the internet through RELIEFWEB:
http://www.reliefweb.int

Mr. Tesema Negash
UN Humanitarian Coordinator - Monrovia
Tel.: (231) 226 041/042
Fax: (874) 175 46 27 (sat.)

Inter-Agency Support Branch (IASB) Geneva
Mr. David Bassiouni - Chief
Mr. Chris Kaye
Tel.: (41 22) 788.6385
Fax: (41 22) 788.6389
Registry E-Mail: Rosemary.Addo-Yirenkyi@dha.unicc.org

Complex Emergencies Division (CED) New York
Mr. Peter Due
Tel.: (1 212) 963.1731
Fax: (1 212) 963.3630
E-Mail: due@un.org

Press to contact (DHA-Geneva)
Ms. Madeleine Moulin-Acevedo
Tel.: (41 22) 917.2856
Fax: (41 22) 917.0023
Telex: 414242 DHA CH
E-Mail: Moulin-Acevedo@dha.unicc.org




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