Sierra Leone - DHA: 16-30.Sep.97

UN-DHA
SIERRA LEONE HUMANITARIAN SITUATION REPORT
Period covered: 16-30 September 1997


This report has been prepared by the office of the United Nations
Humanitarian Coordinator for Sierra Leone in Conakry, Guinea


SECURITY

1. ECOMOG has continued to prevent vessels docking at Freetown port in
accordance with the provisions of the ECOWAS embargo by flying regular
sorties over Freetown. On 20 September, a fuel vessel anchored at the
power house jetty in Freetown was bombed by Nigerian warplanes resulting
in damage to the compound and a nearby police hospital. Another vessel
attempting to enter Sierra Leones territorial waters on 22 September
retreated after being subjected to aerial bombardment. It has been
reported that three more Nigerian warships have been deployed to Freetown
to strengthen the capacity of ECOWAS to enforce the embargo. Exchanges of
fire have continued on a sporadic basis at Lungi causing casualties on
both sides. The propaganda war has intensified as each party has
consistently held the other side responsible for the perpetration of a
given incident. 

2. The role of the youth Gangs formed by the AFRC to increase grassroots
support for the military regime has become more formalised in recent
weeks. The AFRC has organised these youths into groups called Sections and
is giving them regular briefings and skills training as well as providing
them with food. 

3. On 19 September, 34 kamajors were reportedly killed by a combination of
AFRC and RUF forces on Sherbro Island, south of Bonthe district. The AFRC
has claimed that the kamajors have been establishing bases and military
training centres on Sherbro Island. These allegations have been denied by
Nigerian military sources. 

4. A United Nations international staff security assessment mission
scheduled to take place in Kambia district at the beginning of October has
been delayed for one week at the request of President Kabbah. 


POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS

5. There are indications that the rift between elements of the AFRC and
the RUF may be widening. On 19 September, it was reported in the Standard
Times, a Sierra Leonean newspaper, that the AFRCs Supreme Council had
voted to relinquish power by a margin of 30 to 10. The majority of those
who voted to remain in power are believed to be RUF representatives. It is
believed that budgetary constraints leading to disenchantment among the
military, the civil disobedience campaign and lack of international
support were key factors influencing the outcome of the vote. Lt. Collins,
an RUF representative, and Alieu Kamara, AFRC spokesman, subsequently
issued statements refuting these allegations. A recent AFRC delegation to
Conakry returned to Freetown without meeting with Guinean President,
Lansana Conte. 

6. The AFRC has intensified attempts to control the press by ordering
newspapers to renew their registrations by the end of September or cease
publication. Newspaper editors have also been asked to submit copies of
their editions to the Information Commissioner prior to publication. These
initiatives have been widely criticised by newspaper editors. The BBC and
Voice of America stringers have also gone into hiding due to continual
harassment by the AFRC. 

7. In speeches delivered at the UN General Assembly, the Head of State of
Zimbabwe, who is also Chairman of the OAU, condemned the military junta in
Sierra Leone and called for the immediate and unconditional restoration of
the constitutional Government of Sierra Leone. 


HUMANITARIAN DEVELOPMENTS

8. At meetings held on 19 September with the UN Security Council, the UN
Secretary-General and other senior UN officials, the ECOWAS Committee of
Five, while concerned that sanctions should not be rendered ineffective,
gave assurances that it did not intend to constrain humanitarian relief
operations in Sierra Leone. It was agreed that corridors for the delivery
of humanitarian assistance and close UN-ECOWAS cooperation on humanitarian
issues were necessary. To this end, it was agreed that the UN Secretariat,
in consultation with UN Agencies and the ex-Sierra Leone humanitarian
community, would make recommendations to ECOWAS on the modalities of
relief operations, the approval mechanism for relief operations, as well
as the categories of relief items to be exempted from sanctions. These
recommendations will be presented to ECOWAS for discussion in due course. 

9. The British Government is sponsoring a workshop in London to produce a
Ninety Day Policy Framework for the re-establishment of President Kabbahs
Government. This workshop will be a source of material for the
international conference on Sierra Leone scheduled to be held in London on
20 October, 1997. UNDP and the World Bank have been asked to provide
support for the workshop. The workshop comprises seven components, namely:
Restoration of Internal Security, the Peace Process, Governance and Public
Administration, the Economic Sector, the Social Sector, the Role of Civil
Society in Decision-making, and Emergency Humanitarian Assistance. The
views of the Sierra Leone humanitarian community have been sought for the
section on Emergency Humanitarian Assistance. Although humanitarian
agencies have expressed a willingness to make available, the various
strategy papers produced for the different sectors since the 25 May coup,
they have indicated that the need to maintain operational neutrality in
the present situation in Sierra Leone prevents their direct participation
in the process. The European Union is also hosting a conference on the
humanitarian situation in Sierra Leone in Brussels on 10 October. 


FOOD AID

10. Following the WFP-UNHCR Regional Strategy meeting held in Abidjan from
17-19 September (see point 7, sitrep dated 9-15 September), several
recommendations were made on Sierra Leone which are listed verbatim as
follows: 

a) The meeting endorsed the continued provision of humanitarian assistance
in Sierra Leone, given proper monitoring and accountability. 

b) The meeting recognised that the Committee on Food Aid (CFA) is the key
body for coordinating food aid activities in Sierra Leone, and commended
the amount of work that has already gone into contingency planning and
collaborative programming. The work of the CFA in drawing upon information
from sectoral committees to plan responses to various potential scenarios
was acknowledged. All agencies were encouraged to continue to participate
actively in the CFA and technical committees. 

c) The meeting supported the overall thrust of the CFA Sierra Leone
strategy, which is to assist targeted beneficiaries in their home
communities as much as possible. To this end, the strategy includes
continued support to existing programmes as best as possible, based on
regular assessments of need and monitoring of populations status, within
given security constraints. 

d) The meeting recognised that a variety of political and security
conditions could prevail in different areas of Sierra Leone concurrently.
Flexibility of response to any eventuality and ongoing contingency
planning are necessary. 

e) The meeting recognised the important work that has already been done in
developing six mechanisms for collecting information from Sierra Leone
about: mortality, percentage and degree of malnutrition, population
movements, harvest mapping and food basket monitoring. It was recommended
that agencies continue to participate in joint information collection and
collation. 

f) In the context of the provision of UN humanitarian assistance, the
meeting noted that WFP is vigorously pursuing clearance to proceed with
cross-border humanitarian operations and has also strongly stressed the
need for international WFP staff to carry out these operations. 


11. Since the return of food supply agencies to Conakry, there has been
close cooperation on the development or a joint approach to the conduct of
cross border operations. 

12. ACF and ICRC are currently carrying out food security assessments in
Freetown and in Bombali and Tonkolili districts in the Northern Province.
Assessments of parts of Bo, Pujehun and Bonthe districts in the Southern
province will commence in October 1997. The objective of these surveys is
to identify current coping strategies used by local populations and to
compare the pre-coup and post-coup situation in terms of food availability
and accessibility. 


HEALTH

13. Data collected from 10 sentinel health centres in Freetown indicated
that 34 percent of 12,000 children under the age of five were diagnosed to
be suffering from malaria. This percentage is slightly higher than average
annual figure of 31 percent and could be attributable to higher rainfall
during 1997. 

14. By the end of August 1,200 children under the age of five were
registered on ACFs dry ration supplementary feeding programme in Bo and
Pujehun district. During August, ACF reopened dry ration distribution
centres in Bo town, Gondama, Yamandu, Koribundu and Pujehun town. 

15. The consultant epidemiologist who was in Koinedugu district from 20-21
September reported that the measles epidemic was ongoing and that 3,000
cases had been reported by village leaders. The team registered 219 cases,
the majority of whom were under the age of five. Christian Extension
Services is carrying out vaccination activities in 32 villages and the
District Health Team in 40 villages in the district. Both are supported by
UNICEF. Health authorities have also reported 7 cases of measles in two
villages in Tonkolili district. 

16. 48 cases of bloody diarrhoea were reported at the RTI camp in Kenema
district, which has a displaced population of 6,000. Sierra Leone Red
Cross is trying to improve conditions at the camp which currently has
extremely poor water and sanitation facilities. 


CHILD PROTECTION

17. The strategy paper on Child Protection Activities in Sierra Leone has
been finalised by the Child Protection Committee in Conakry after
extensive consultation with child welfare agencies operating in Sierra
Leone. The paper acknowledges that there is currently no formal child
demobilisation process in Sierra Leone and that children continue to be
recruited by the AFRC, RUF and kamajors. The estimated number of children
in armed groups is 4,000 although this figure is not verifiable due to the
anecdotal nature of available data. As an example of the extent of the
recruitment of children into armed groups, it is estimated that 40 percent
of the 1,000 RUF soldiers in the Northern-5th Battalion in Makeni are
children. 

18. Attempts to demobilise children since the coup have been constrained
due to the extreme volatility of the current political and security
situation in Sierra Leone. Although children have been temporarily
released from RUF forces in Kambia (33) and Port Loko (75), these children
are said to remain in contact with RUF officers and are reported to still
have access to weapons. It is feared that these children will return to
active RUF units as soon as they are needed. The Child Protection
Committee acknowledges that although there seems to be a possibility of
release of non-combatant children less than 10 years of age, the
demobilisation of any child soldier is not realistic at present. 

19. Based on an assessment of the current situation of children in Sierra
Leone, the Child Protection Committee recommends the four strategies
listed below. The most recent efforts to put these strategies into
practice are highlighted under the respective headings. 

a) To document, to understand and to report on gross violations of the
human rights of children. Sierra Leone has a legal obligation to protect
child rights resulting from its signature and ratification of the
convention of the Rights of the Child on 18 June 1990. However, prior to
the 25 May coup, violations of the human rights of children have received
minimal attention in Sierra Leone due to inadequate formal and informal
monitoring systems. Since the coup, this situation has undeniably
deteriorated as children are more vulnerable and exposed to violations.
Quantitative and qualitative information is urgently needed for advocacy
and for prevention and planning purposes. At present, the most effective
child rights advocacy work in Sierra Leone is being undertaken by the
Catholic Mission with the support of Concern Universal. 

b) To provide immediate emergency care to children in need. Immediate
emergency care consists of interim care for unaccompanied children from
RUF areas, for unaccompanied internally displaced children and for
children with special needs without any adult care giver. Because the
primary responsibility for ensuring the protection of children belongs to
their families, Family Tracing and Reunification activities will remain
the essential component of child protection activities in Sierra Leone.
The National Family Tracing and Reunification Network will be strengthened
with the inclusion of additional NGOs with a view to reunifying as quickly
as possible all unaccompanied children including child soldiers currently
in RUF and AFRC armed groups. Progress is being made in this regard. In
Bo, family tracing activities started during the past week with Christian
Brothers acting as lead agency. In Kenema, the Child Protection
sub-committee took the important symbolic step of despatching a letter to
the local commander demanding the release of children abducted by the RUF
from the Ben Hirsch orphanage and insisting that further abductions are
stopped. In Freetown, the Catholic mission and MSF have received
authorisation from the RUF to provide medical care for 30 wounded RUF
children. 

Particular attention should be given to the youngest children (usually
under the age of 10) who are not yet considered combatants but act as
porters and food growers, the so-called Young Boys Units (YBUs) and Young
Girls Units (YGUs). In Freetown, ADRA and Children Associated with the War
(CAW) have started registering RUF children in YBUs and YGUs with a view
to securing their eventual release. 

c) To promote and support efforts for the reintegration of children into
their families and communities. This concept recognises that
institutionalisation of children in specialised centres should be avoided
whenever possible. Due to the nature of the violence associated with the
conflict in Sierra Leone, successful reintegration implies acceptance of
the child by the community. Agricultural activities, skills, training and
community reconstruction projects will build up the capacity of
communities to cope with the reintegration of child soldiers. This is an
area which has received little attention at present. 

d) Strengthening coordination and evaluation mechanisms at national and
local level. At present, government institutions in Sierra Leone do not
have the capacity to assume their coordination role. Thus, coordination in
Sierra Leone will be through the National Child Protection Committee in
Freetown under the overall umbrella of the Child Protection Committee in
Conakry. Both committees are chaired by UNICEF. Pre-coup child protection
coordination mechanisms in Bo, Kenema and Makeni have been reactivated and
new coordination instruments have recently been created in Port Loko and
Lunsar. The fact that the Child Protection Committee in Conakry was able
to form a joint strategy paper is an important step forward as child
protection often generates intense competition among humanitarian agencies
as it is a high profile area. The ultimate objective is to build up the
capacity of Government to assume a coordination role at a later date. 


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

Complex Emergency Division (CED) New York
Mr. Stephen Johnson
Tel.: (1 212) 963.3044 - Fax: (1 212) 963.3630
E-Mail: johnsons@un.org

Inter-Agency Support Branch (IASB) Geneva
Mr. David Bassiouni - Chief
Ms. Shahwar Pataudi
Tel.: (41 22) 788.1403 - Fax: (41 22) 788.6389
Registry E-Mail: Rosemary.Addo-Yirenkyi@dha.unicc.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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