Liberia - OCHA-04: 01-30.Apr.98
Liberia - OCHA-04: 01-30.Apr.98
LIBERIA HUMANITARIAN SITUATION REPORT
Period covered: April 1998 - No. 04
The information contained in this report was provided by the Office of the
United Nations Resident Coordinator in Liberia
OVERVIEW
The influx of Sierra Leonean refugees arriving in Vahun, Upper Lofa slowed
down towards the end of this month. At this stage, the number of new
arrivals stands at 54,000. Preparations are underway for an alternative
site, where access will be feasible to support these people during the
rains when it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to reach the
area by road.
By the end of April, more than 50 percent of the internally displaced, who
form part of the LRRRC/Federation-LNCRS/UNOPS relocation programme, have
returned to their communities of origin from the shelters in Monrovia.
Ethnic tensions in the Bokassa area of Upper Lofa between the Lorma and the
Mandingos persist. A number of houses and a mosque have been burnt down
reflecting the unwillingness of the Lorma to accept into the community
returning Mandingos. The Ministry of Internal Affairs continues to mediate.
There have been some incidents involving the looting of relief supplies by
elements of the security forces. The Ministry of Defense is making all
efforts to redress the situation and assures the humanitarian community of
its commitment to prevent further episodes. Apart from elements of the
security forces, there has been an incident of private citizens
confiscating food supplies in Nimba County. This poses a complex obstacle
to the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
The Policy Management Group (PMG), whose membership includes NGOs, Donors
and UN Agencies, has met with the Ministry of Finance in an effort to
streamline the procedures for the importation of relief items. A small
working group of PMG members and officials of the Ministry of Finance have
been tasked to come up with a new procedure which should expedite the
release of the relief goods.
INTERNALLY DISPLACED
The IDP pilot resettlement programme which is funded by UNOPS and
implemented by the Federation LNCRS under the supervision of the LRRRC
began on 2 April. To date 5,298 family heads have been issued waybills
which represents a population of 25,028 people. Of this amount, 3,554
families have returned to their communities and collected their shelter
packages. This represents a population of 16,460. At this point,
registration has taken place in six shelters while three more will be
covered under this programme. Community kits were issued to 10 communities
where large numbers of the displaced have returned. WFP is complementing
the programme by providing the final food ration at the distribution sites.
Food is also being provided to other returnees who are returning from other
shelters and who have a WFP ration card. Efforts are being made now to
mobilize financial support to continue the programme and include the
remaining shelters. The EU continues to assist the relocation programme
with two trucks while USAID is providing the plastic sheeting.
REFUGEES
A total of 54,000 newly arrived refugees from Sierra Leone are now in Vahun
in Upper Lofa. The influx has now ceased with the conflict in Sierra Leone
shifting. A sensitization campaign was undertaken to encourage refugees to
move to Kolahun where a site is being prepared to receive them. Kolahun is
approximately 45 km. from Vahun and during the rains will be accessible,
while Vahun, given the road conditions, will be totally cut off. WFP has
prepositioned food in Kolahun. The NGOs, MSF, Merlin, and IAS are assisting
in the health sector. MSF has a team in place including a nutritionist, a
doctor and three logisticians. Some seventy-five malnourished children have
been moved from Vahun to the therapeutic feeding centre in Kolahun.
Malnutrition in Vahun is described by MSF as serious but not alarming. A
nutritional survey carried out by SCF/UK and ACF in Vahun in March reports
rates of 9.9 percent global malnutrition and 3.5 percent severe
malnutrition. In addition to nutritional assistance, MSF is providing
emergency potable water and constructing communal latrines. The local NGO,
LUSH, is involved in food distribution and shelter construction. So far,
325 refugees have been transported by PAE trucks from Vahun to Kolahun
while 75 arrived on foot. Many more have been observed making their way
along the road to the new site.
Meanwhile in Vahun, assistance will be provided for as long as it is
feasible to access the area. OXFAM are assisting in the Watsan sector and
have just completed the construction of latrines for 30 families and eight
wells. TEARFUND are also installing wells in Vahun and have completed three
so far. In the health sector, Merlin continues to operate a 40-bed
inpatient health centre, a health post and an oral rehydration centre for
refugees. A mass measles immunisation campaign was also carried out for the
large influx with the assistance of Merlin. This NGO intends to maintain a
field presence throughout the rains and is prepositioning supplies in
preparation. WHO and the Ministry of Health presented medical supplies and
equipment to the Vahun Community Maternity Centre which is operated by
traditional midwives.
REPATRIATION
On 22 April, a total of 1,688 refugees have returned to Liberia assisted by
UNHCR bringing to 21,846 the total number of refugees who have returned
under this programme. Among the group returning this month was 52
unaccompanied children who require special assistance.
RESETTLEMENT
UNOPS began the renovation of 21 schools in six counties, in addition and
in collaboration with ILO, Renovations began on parts of Cuttington
University Campus in Gbarnga, Bong County. TEARFUND have completed the
rehabilitation of six schools in Lofa county. A proposal from TEARFUND to
UNOPS for the rehabilitation of an additional 18 schools in Montserrado has
been approved and will commence shortly.
FOOD DISTRIBUTIONS
On 21 April the WFP food stock was 4,047.8 MTs of assorted commodities
including 2,151.8 MTs of Bulgur, 150.9 MTs of Maize, 1,328.8 MTs of CSB,
171.1 MTs of pulses, 193.9 MTs of Oil, 31.1 MTs of sugar, 19.9 MTs of salt
and 0.042 MTs of high protein biscuits. During the first two weeks of
April, WFP distributed a total of 1118.5 MTs of food.
Type of No. of Total MTs
Programme beneficiaries allocated
School Feeding 96,555 860.75
Vulnerable Group Feeding 2,307 31.53
Returnees/Resettlement 16,000 102.5
Food-for-Work/
Food-for-Training 4,375 123.5
CRS distributed a total of 802 MTs of food to 35,516 beneficiaries during
the reporting period.
Type of Beneficiaries Total MTs
Programme allocated
Vulnerable Group
Feeding 5,969 55
IDPs 5,013 65
School Feeding 13,583 298
Food for Work 9,185 366
Food for Training 1,815 18
CRS food stocks stand at: 5,332 MTs of Bulgur, one MTs of beans, 1,115 MTs
of lentils, 4,189 MTs of CSB, 1,835 MTs of oil, 62 MTs of SFB making a
total stock of 12,534 MTs.
FOOD SECURITY MONITORING
A food security forum has been established with WFP as the focal point. The
objective of this group is to establish mechanisms to gather information on
existing and future returnee flows into communities and the strategies they
are adopting in order to provide for their families. Through this
monitoring group which includes WFP, NGOs and USAID it is hoped to develop
a system of guiding future humanitarian interventions. The monitoring
technique involves assessing the extent of community support networks,
monitoring the availability of food and its access for different groups and
identifying vulnerable groups and those at risk within the community. A
series of training workshops and assessment missions have begun to develop
this system.
AGRICULTURE
FAO, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, held a one week
national consultative workshop to discuss methods of ensuring bottom-up
initiatives from the communities at the clan level for rural development
and the involvement of clan farmer?s associations in the provision of
agricultural extension services. Participants included County Agricultural
Coordinators, farmers, Government officials and NGOs.
Under FAO?s fabrication of scratching hoes programme, 39,500 of the 46,000
total have been produced and are being distributed to vulnerable farmers in
Lofa, Bong and Nimba counties.
In Nimba and Bong Counties, fourteen village blacksmith workshops have been
established with FAO?S support. Some 400 workshop tolls have been
distributed within this programme which will be expanded to include Grand
Bassa and Rivercess.
The FAO fisheries project completed the last of five training of trainers
workshops. Fishing gear was distributed in several counties.
So far the Seeds and Tools Committee has released 815 MTs of seed-rice to
farmers in the Southeast. Tools distribution has begun in Bong. Lofa, Cape
Mount and Bomi Counties. Arrangements are underway to receive another 2,000
MTs of seed rice which is coming from Guinea and Cote d?Ivoire.
Three projects for the production of various crops have been approved by
UNOPs and will be implemented shortly.
HEALTH
Liberia joined member states of the World Health Organisation in observing
World Health Day under the theme Safe Motherhood. This event coincided with
the fiftieth anniversary of WHO.
Liberia has also been selected by WHO as one of four countries to carry out
a case study on the impact of the conflict on the health sector. The
purpose of the study is to establish a basis for advising health
authorities and agencies, including NGOs, on how to pursue development
objectives in a crisis environment while meeting humanitarian needs.
A large quantity of condoms valued at over USD 30,000 and laboratory
equipment have been donated by WHO to the National Aids Control Programme
(NACP) and the Emergency and Humanitarian Action (EHA) Programme,
respectively.
In Monrovia, MSF reports that the number of patients in the Cholera Unit at
the Swedrelief hospital is still higher then normal for this time of the
year. Although the rate of daily admissions to the unit has not exceeded
ten for the past two months, Swedrelief Hospital itself remains overcrowded
with upwards of 6,000 consultations per month including 915 admissions, 213
deliveries and more than 5,500 laboratory tests.
REVITALISATIONS OF PRIMARY HEALTH CARE
In Nimba County, the International Rescue Committee is supporting ten
health clinics and has plans to expand the programme to include support to
an additional five clinics in Nimba and five in Lofa county. OXFAM are
supporting six clinics in Cape Mount.
Together with the Ministry of Health, the European Union, UNICEF, Merlin
and other NGOs a plan has been agreed upon to preposition drug supplies for
a three month period in health clinics which will be cut off during the
rains.
An MSF doctor will be based shortly in Voinjama as part of the MSF/County
Health Team cooperation. MSF will assist in the reactivation and the
rehabilitation of the Voinjama hospital. Similar programmes by MSF are
ongoing in hospitals in Harper and Bomi.
IMMUNISATION ACTIVITIES
In collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the National Dug Service
(NDS), UNICEF carried out training of 66 health workers in vaccination
skills and cold-chain management for the implementation of the Expanded
Programme of Immunisation (EPI) in the Southeast. In Sinoe County, 5,874
children under five have already benefited from the second round of
immunisation while 4,674 women of child-bearing age were immunised against
tetanus toxoid. UNICEF continues to support an accelerated EPI campaign in
all 13 counties. Vaccine depots are being established in each county for
this purpose.
WORKSHOPS/TRAINING
A joint WHO and Ministry of Health team conducted two training workshops in
Vahun, Upper Lofa. One provided refresher training for 43 traditional
midwives and the other refresher training for 54 community health and
sanitation workers. Participants in each training session received from WHO
the appropriate kits to carry out their functions. Similar training
workshops were conducted by WHO in Nimba and Grand Gedeh as part of the
project to strengthen primary health care.
UNICEF and NARDA conducted health/hygiene workshops with eight communities
in Margibi and Grand Bassa Counties. In addition, women in those
communities were educated on breast feeding, nutrition and HIV/Aids.
The Liberian National Red Cross Society held first aid workshops for 56
participants in Nimba County.
WATER AND ENVIRONMENTAL SANITATION
Construction by UNOPs of sanitation facilities in 14 towns and villages has
begun in Bomi County. In Nimba, Lofa and Grand Gedeh, the European Union
has completed the digging of 50 wells. The EU has also chlorinated a total
of 814 wells in Montserrado, Nimba, Grand Gedeh, Maryland and Grand Bassa,
of which a total of 400 wells are in Monrovia and its environments.
In Greenville, Sinoe County, OXFAM has constructed six blocks of latrines
and ten wells. Meanwhile in Bomi County, CONCERN have completed the
installation with pumps of 10 wells, 33 more have been dug with the pumps
to be attached shortly. The programme includes a total of 66 well in Bomi.
UNICEF supported the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) to
desludge 12 latrines at displaced centres in Monrovia.
As part of the Control of Diarrheal Diseases (CDD) programme UNICEF has
chlorinated 3,471 open wells in cooperation with the Ministry of Lands,
Mines and Energy. This programme will involve three cycles of chlorination
for wells in Monrovia and its environments.
Under the UNICEF, Rural Water and Environmental Sanitation Project, the
Community and Human Development Agency (COHDA), has installed eight hand
dug wells with pumps and in excess of 35 latrines in Nimba County.
EDUCATION
Through its implementing partner, the Lutheran World Service (LWS), UNICEF
continues to deliver school supplies to students. A total of 133,016
students, 4,576 teachers and 529 schools have benefitted from the programme
in Bong and Nimba County.
VOCATIONAL TRAINING
Under an International Labour Organisation project, 18 small enterprise
groups who are graduates of skills training in 15 trades have received
tools and equipment. These groups have also received the benefit of
training in Grass Root Management methodology conducted by ILO. Since the
beginning of the year some 3,800 persons have graduated from ILO Training
programmes, another 1,800 are currently under training and will graduate in
July. In addition, 450 participants have benefitted from training of
trainers seminars. In coordination with UNOPs and UNICEF, graduates from
the ILO training programmes are involved in making the furniture required
for the UNOPs renovation programme which will involve 100 schools and 80
clinics.
ROADS AND BRIDGES
An agreement has been finalised between the European Union and the Ministry
of Public Works to rehabilitate the Ganta to Zwedru highway in Nimba and
Grand Gedeh Counties. The project is scheduled to start this week. CONCERN
has completed the rehabilitation of eight bridges in Bomi County. Their
programme includes the repair of a total of 12 bridges in the county.
A proposal to rehabilitate six log bridges in Cape Mount County was
approved by UNOPs.
TRAINING AND WORKSHOPS
A UNICEF consultant is currently sensitising 16 local NGOs representing the
disabled, on mechanisms for assisting the disabled within the communities.
In Cape Mount County, OXFAM held two workshops which are part of a series
of eight. The theme of all these workshops is community participation. A
total of 80 participants attended the two held this month. As a group they
were guided through a process identifying needs within the community. Their
conclusions, in terms of priority interventions required, were identified
as inaccessible roads, lack of medical facilities and lack of seeds and
tolls. Follow-up meetings will be held with these communities.
A reconciliation project has begun in Bong county with OXFAM supporting the
Gbarnga Justice and Peace Commission Office to identify local mechanisms
for resolving conflict and the promotion of peace and reconciliation.
Together with the NGO Christian Health Association of Liberia (CHAL),
UNICEF conducted three ten day workshops on conflict resolution involving
the participation of 110 students from 19 schools in Buchanan and Monrovia.
Similar workshops will be conducted in other counties. UNICEF is also
carrying out trauma awareness workshops for newly arriving refugees in
Vahun.
A representative from the Liberian NGO, IMANI House, was sponsored by FAO
to attend a five-day workshop in Ghana called -Inter-County Technical
Workshop on Participatory Adaptive Research in Support of Food Production
in Africa.- FAO also sponsored a senior technical officer from the Forestry
Development Authority to attend the 12th session of the working parties of
Wildlife Management and National Parks and the 11th Session of the African
Forestry and Wildlife Commission in Dakar, Senegal.
This report is available on the internet through RELIEFWEB:
http://www.reliefweb.int
Mr. Pascal Karorero
Deputy Resident Representative UNDP
Monrovia, Liberia
Tel.: (231) 226 194
Fax: (231) 226 210
Complex Emergency Response /
Consolidated Appeal Process (CER/CAP) - Geneva
Mr. David Bassiouni - Chief
Mr. Ayodele Fowler
Tel.: (41 22) 788.1406
Fax: (41 22) 788.6386
Registry E-Mail: Abu.Conteh@dha.unicc.org
Complex Emergencies Division (CED) New York
Ms. Agnes Asekenye-Oonyu
Tel.: (1 212) 963.1773
Fax: (1 212) 963.1388
E-Mail: asekenye-oonyu@un.org
Information Service
Ms. Therese Gastaut - Director
Tel.: (41 22) 917.2300
Fax: (41 22) 917.0030
E-Mail: tgastaut@unog.ch
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