U N I T E D   N A T I O N S 
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 
Integrated Regional Information Network for West Africa 

Tel: +225 22-40-4440 
Fax: +225 22-41-9339 
e-mail: irin-wa@irin.ci 


WEST AFRICA
IRIN-WA Weekly Roundup 80
covering the period 
7 - 13 July 2001


CONTENTS: 

WEST AFRICA: Weapons burned across the region 
WEST AFRICA: Cholera alert 
GHANA: Thousands of flood victims still need help, official says
SIERRA LEONE: RUF threatens to suspend disarmament 
SIERRA LEONE: Skills training for amputees, IDPs 
SIERRA LEONE: Reviving the local government system 
SIERRA LEONE: African bank to complete dam
LIBERIA: UN team sanctions team ends visit
GUINEA: ACF to send 12 mt of supplies for IDPs
GUINEA-BISSAU: UN Security Council expresses concern
SENEGAL: MFDC prepares congress
SENEGAL: Humanitarian training for the military
SENEGAL: US NGO offers mosquito nets
MAURITANIA: Drought affects northern areas
NIGERIA: Oil states lose court fight
NIGERIA: UNICEF and Delta State sign programme agreement
CAPE VERDE: Debt relief from Portugal; ditching expired pesticides 
COTE D'IVOIRE: US financial support for civil society groups
UNITED NATIONS: Cash shortfall hampers relief efforts worldwide

WEST AFRICA: Weapons burned across the region

A number of West African countries conducted symbolic arms destruction
ceremonies this week to coincide with the UN conference on small arms,
which opened in New York on Monday.

The 9-20 July UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light
Weapons in All Its Aspects is addressing the increasing threat to human
security from the spread of small arms and light weapons, and aims to find
ways to curb and eliminate the illegal trade in such weapons.

Members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) signed a
small arms moratorium in 1999 with a view to controlling the flow of small
and light weapons within countries and across the region's borders. The
availability of such weapons has been recognised as a strong factor in the
instability affecting West Africa.

Mali, which began its weapon destruction on Monday at two sites, destroyed
over 500 weapons. At Lere, southwest of Timbuktu on the border with
Mauritania, some 230 small arms were burned, according to the UN Programme
of Coordination and Assistance for Security and Development (PCASED) in
Bamako.

"In Lere a local committee was formed by mainly women in the area and
Muslim groups. They organised an awareness campaign and reached members of
the community through local radio," Napoleon Abdullai, disarmament expert
at PCASED, told IRIN on Friday. The residual ore from the destroyed
weapons will be used to build a monument in a 'Garden of Peace', and
whatever is left over will be used for agricultural implements, he added.

At the second site, Dire, some 90 km southwest of Timbuktu, 277 weapons
were destroyed, Abdullai said. A 'weapons-for-development' programme,
involving the exchange of arms for agricultural tools, started last year
in the mainly agricultural area populated by sedentary farmers who grow
rice and livestock-rearing nomads.

The weapons destruction was organised by the Malian National Commission
against the Proliferation of Small Arms and PCASED, and funded by the
Belgian and Malian governments.

A disarmament momentum has been sustained in Mali since a 'Flame of Peace'
ceremony in Timbuktu in 1996, when some 3,000 weapons collected from
rebels in northern Mali were destroyed, according to the UN Regional
Centre for Peace and Disarmament (UNREC)in the Togolese capital, Lome.

Meanwhile, Nigeria began the destruction of its stockpile of illicit
weapons on 6 July by setting fire to 2,421 guns of various types in the
northern city of Kaduna. Weapons destroyed included submachine guns,
automatic and pump-action rifles, double-barrelled shotguns and pistols.
They were seized from armed robbers, illegal dealers and participants in
recent communal conflicts.

In the Ghanaian capital, Accra, 874 weapons were destroyed on Monday in an
ongoing drive against the proliferation of small arms, according to the
'Daily Graphic' newspaper.

In Niger, some 1,200 weapons were destroyed in August 2000 in recognition
of the restoration of peace between the state and Tuareg and Toubou rebel
movements while, in 1999, Liberia destroyed some 19,000 weapons and two
million rounds of ammunition left over from its seven-year civil war,
according to UNREC. Other countries, including Sierra Leone, have ongoing
weapons destruction programmes.

It is estimated that there are eight million illicit small arms and light
weapons in circulation in West Africa, according to UNREC.

WEST AFRICA: Cholera alert

A cholera alert has been launched in Burkina Faso following outbreaks in
neighbouring countries, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported from
Ouagadougou. Multisectoral teams are scheduled to start travelling around
the Sahelian country on Monday to evaluate the situation and ensure that
everyone receives and understands instructions related to cholera that
have been issued by the Health Ministry.

The Preventive Medicine Directorate has pre-positioned stocks of medicines
in high-risk districts, WHO said.

Media sources reported during the week that cases had been registered in
countries bordering Burkina Faso such as Ghana and Togo. A source at the
WHO's Epidemiological Unit in Abidjan told IRIN that cholera was endemic
in much of coastal West Africa and that the incidence of the disease
increased each year in the rainy season, which began in May. The source
said there had been 1,690 cases, including 59 deaths, in the first 24
weeks of the year in Ghana, whose government has been taking precautions
against the disease.

The WHO's Togo office was not able to confirm immediately the existence of
cholera in the country.

GHANA: Thousands of flood victims still need help, official says

About 40,000 people in and near Accra are still feeling the effects of
floods that swept coastal Ghana in late June, a senior official of Ghana's
National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) said on Friday.

Asomaning Odei Mensah, NADMO's deputy director for relief and
reconstruction, told IRIN that with help from the international community,
his organisation has been providing relief for 15,000 people "severely
affected" by the floods. "Severely affected", he said, meant people who
had lost their homes and/or all or most of their belongings. Among the
hardest hit were people who lived along gullies and whose property was
swept away by the flood waters.

The remaining 25,000 flood victims also need help, he said, but there were
not enough resources available to assist them.

The floods, caused by heavy rains on 28 June, swamped much of Accra and
areas in nearby Central Region. There was also some isolated flooding in
Kumasi, Ghana's second largest city, and the western town of Takoradi. In
the Accra area, most of the flood waters have receded, but not all, and
some people are still unable to return to their homes, Mensah said. He
said he did not know exactly how many people were still displaced.
 
Mensah said UN agencies, such as UNICEF, UNDP and WHO, had donated relief
items for the worst affected people. The German Embassy in Ghana has also
asked for details of relief items needed. These, he said, included rice,
beans, cooking oil, mattresses, blankets, mats, and used clothing for
children as well as adults.

Water sources have been purified with chlorine provided by UNICEF, which
has also donated 20 water tanks with a capacity of some 7,000 litres each.
These have been sent to the most distressed areas, he said. He added that
a few cholera cases were detected and these had been treated.
 
Japan has offered to help rebuild bridges, schools and clinics. Mensah
said relief officials began assessing the damage done by the floods to
such infrastructure on Thursday and were due to complete it on Monday.
 
SIERRA LEONE: RUF threatens to suspend disarmament

The disarmament of Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and Civil Defence
Forces (CDF) members in Kono District, eastern Sierra Leone, proceeded
slowly this week, with just 145 fighters giving up their weapons. This was
a far cry from the many hundreds who disarmed in May during the first week
of a similar exercise in the northern district of Kambia.

So far 33 RUF and 89 CDF have disarmed in Kono, IRIN learnt on Friday from
the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), which has been trying to speed
up disarmament in the area. Some 4,500 fighters remain to be disarmed in
Kono, UNAMSIL said.

The BBC reported on Friday that the RUF was unhappy about attacks by the
CDF (a pro-government militia) on their units in Kono District and the
continued imprisonment of their members in Freetown. The government had
said up to 20 RUF members might be freed on Tuesday, but did not release
them.

Another development that clouded the disarmament process was a reported
threat by RUF spokesman Gibril Massaquoi to suspend the disarmament
because another RUF member, Omrie Golley, is on the list of Liberian
officials and their associates whom the UN has banned from travelling for
allegedly supporting the RUF.

On the other hand, another RUF official, Chief of Security Augustine Gbao,
appealed to RUF and CDF forces on Monday to show sincerity in disarming.
There were no victors in the ten-year war, he said. "We only succeeded in
killing one another and destroying our country."

UNAMSIL Force Commander Lt-Gen Daniel Opande recently told reporters in
Freetown that efforts were being made to speed up disarmament in Koidu and
the southern area of Bonthe and "get it off our back". He said UNAMSIL
patrols and military observers were frequently distributing leaflets to
RUF and CDF field commanders urging them to report with their men to
disarmament reception centres. Past practice has been to leave this task
solely to the political and military leaders of the two groups but, Opande
said, "we have found out that in most cases that does not work."

Both sides have repeatedly told UNAMSIL they are willing to disarm in
mineral-rich Kono but the CDF, having to do so in the heart of RUF
territory, had been cautious because of past RUF ambushes. Official
disarmament in Kono began on 2 July and is due to end on 28 July.
 
Meanwhile, the international community has pledged US $40 million toward
the establishment of a war crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone, the
internet-based news provider Sierra Leone Web reported, quoting the
country's ambassador to the United States, John Leigh. The amount falls US
$16 million short of the estimated sum the court would need to run for at
least three years.

SIERRA LEONE: Skills training for amputees, IDPs

A total of 400 amputees and people with severe lacerations are receiving
training in skills ranging from shoemaking to basic management under a
programme run by a non-governmental organisation, Cause Canada, OCHA noted
in its 'Humanitarian Situation Report' for 17 June - 10 July. Meanwhile,
an Italian NGO, Emergency, which specialises in urgent surgery and
treating war-wounded, is transforming a former clinic at Goderich, just
outside Freetown, into an orthopaedic surgical centre, where it will also
train health personnel in specialisations such as anaesthesia and
intensive care treatment, OCHA reported.

SIERRA LEONE: Reviving the local government system

National consultations on the devolution of power in Sierra Leone from the
central government to local administrations are due to continue until 20
July in readiness for December's general elections, UNAMSIL reported on
Thursday.

It said the discussions seek "to engage all citizens and civil society
partners in building a national consensus on major issues concerning the
consolidation of peace and the promotion of sustainable development in
Sierra Leone".

Conducted by the government in collaboration with UNAMSIL, the discussions
are held for two days in each region, and involve academics, state,
community, religious, business and other leaders, the media, UN agencies,
and former fighters.

SIERRA LEONE: African bank to complete dam

The African Development Bank has agreed to fund the completion of a
hydroelectric dam and upgrade the water supply systems throughout Sierra
Leone, Energy and Power Minister Chernoh Jalloh said on Wednesday. Under
the agreement, signed in June in Accra, Ghana, the bank will also fund
programmes to improve law and order, civil administration, public services
and agriculture, and provide credit for the national electricity
authority, Jalloh said.
  
LIBERIA: UN team sanctions team ends visits

A five-man UN team of specialists in arms trafficking, transport, diamond
sales, civil aviation and international crime ended a week-long visit to
Liberia on 9 July. They went there to assess the government's compliance
with a UN resolution calling for an end to its support for anti-government
forces in Sierra Leone, a UN official told IRIN. The mission, headed by
Martin Chungong Ayafor of Cameroon, visited the Gbartala anti-terrorist
training base in central Liberia where, it is widely believed, dissidents
operating against Sierra Leone and Guinea are trained.
 
GUINEA: ACF to send 12 mt of supplies for IDPs

The Spanish chapter of Action contre la Faim (ACF-Action against Hunger)
reported on 11 July that it was sending 12 mt of relief aid - therapeutic
milk, rehydration salts and water pumps - for some 150,000 internally
displaced persons in Guinea. The shipment was due to leave Barcelona on 13
July.

GUINEA-BISSAU: UN Security Council expresses concern

UN Security Council members expressed concern on Tuesday over political,
economic and social instability in Guinea-Bissau. They were worried about
tensions on the border with Senegal and the government's inability - due
to a lack of resources - to pursue the restructuring of the armed forces
and a demobilization and reintegration programme for ex-combatants, the
Council's president for July, Ambassador Wang Yingfan of China, said.

SENEGAL: MFDC prepares congress

The Mouvement des forces democratiques de Casamance (MFDC), which is
fighting for independence for Casamance, southern Senegal, plans to hold
an oft-delayed national congress later this month, an MFDC official told
IRIN on Thursday. The national politburo meeting is tentatively set for
"between 25 July and 6 August", MFDC's former spokesman, Alexandre Djiba,
said. The congress would allow the MFDC to harmonise its positions with an
eye to proposed talks with the government. Since 1982, the MFDC has waged
an armed conflict against the Senegalese state for the right to
self-governance of Casamance, an agriculturally-rich area partly separated
from the rest of Senegal by The Gambia.
 
SENEGAL: Humanitarian training for the military

The first follow-up brigade-level multinational training exercise on
peacekeeping and humanitarian aid operations under the US African Crisis
Response Initiative (ACRI) programme began on Monday in Senegal, the US
European Command reported. About 65 Senegalese officers are being trained.
 
The three-week training focuses on peacekeeping and humanitarian-aid
operations and doctrine, staff officer skills, planning and coordinating
administrative, operational and logistical support, as well as military
decision-making.
  
ACRI is sponsored by the US Department of State.
 
SENEGAL: US NGO offers mosquito nets

The US NGO, World Vision, has distributed 3,150 mosquito nets to
inhabitants of southern Senegal's Velingara region as part of an effort to
fight malaria in the area, the state-owned 'Le Soleil' daily reported on
Friday. World Vision also donated other anti-malaria equipment to the
regional health centre in Velingara.

In 1996, the area registered 5,000 deaths for 600,000 recorded cases, the
daily said, quoting Velingara's chief medical officer, Samba Ndiaye.
 
MAURITANIA: Drought affects northern areas

Extremely dry conditions have prompted the Mauritanian authorities to
launch an emergency programme to help livestock rearers in Tiris Zemmour
District in the north of the country. The Mauritanian News Agency (AMI)
reported on Monday that under an emergency programme for the livestock
sector, 300 mt of animal feed would be sold at subsidised prices to
farmers in the area, who have had difficulties as a result of a two-year
rain shortfall. Veterinary medicines will also be distributed in Tiris
Zemmour, which has over 55,000 camels, 45,000 goats and many sheep, AMI
reported.
  
NIGERIA: Oil states lose court fight

Nigeria's Supreme Court has ruled that the federal government can continue
legal moves to stop southern states from retaining most of the revenue
earned from their oil reserves, the BBC reported on Wednesday.

The states, 12 out of the country's 36, say that they produce some 90
percent of Nigeria's wealth but their communities do not reap the
benefits. The government decided some time ago to devolve 13 percent of
earnings to the states that generated them. However, it said that if state
governments were allowed control of all their oil revenues the rest of
Nigeria would suffer and national unity would be undermined, the BBC
reported.
 
NIGERIA: UNICEF and Delta State sign programme agreement

The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and Delta State in southern
Nigeria signed a US $360,000 year-long agreement on Wednesday to improve
health, nutrition and education of women and children. The agreement
focuses on HIV/AIDS education, immunisation, creating a school environment
conducive to learning, and sensitising the media and state authorities to
children's issues, UNICEF's Godwin Nwabunka told IRIN on 10 July. UNICEF
contributed US $190,000 to the programme and the state US $170,000.

CAPE VERDE: Debt relief; expired pesticides

Portugal has agreed to lend Cape Verde US $14 million to support its
economy and will also restructure a debt of about US $25 million that the
West African country owes it, PANA reported.

Cape Verde is also to get rid of some 40 mt of expired pesticides imported
in 1985 to battle a locust invasion that also affected Mauritania and
Senegal. The director-general of agriculture, Joao Fonseca, told IRIN that
the supply of pesticides was more than the three nations needed and a
collective decision was taken to get rid of the surplus.

The Netherlands has agreed to pay for the removal and transport of the
pesticides, which Praia estimates will cost about US $6,790 per mt. "The
chemicals are well stored and pose no danger to the public," Fonseca said.
 
COTE D'IVOIRE: US financial support for civil society groups

The US Embassy has granted US $70,500 to six NGOs for projects to promote
democracy and human rights in Cote d'Ivoire. Some of the money is to be
used to make Ivorian female politicians more aware of their importance in
political decision-making, and to teach rural women about the country's
legal system. Other initiatives to be funded include the provision of
psychological treatment and legal assistance to victims of human rights
abuses.

UNITED NATIONS: Cash shortfall hampers relief efforts worldwide

Four top UN officials have warned that poor funding and lack of security
is threatening humanitarian work worldwide, the UN reported in New York on
Thursday.

In a joint statement, Kenzo Oshima, Under-Secretary-General for
Humanitarian Affairs, Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the UN
Children's Fund, Catherine Bertini, Executive Director of the World Food
Programme and Ruud Lubbers, High Commissioner for Refugees, urged wealthy
governments to be more generous and consistent in helping the victims of
conflicts and natural disasters. The statement, released in Geneva where
the four attended the annual meeting of the UN's Economic and Social
Council, also called for greater humanitarian access and security for
staff.

The UN humanitarian programmes for 19 worldwide crises have received some
US $974 million of the US $2.74 billion the UN has asked for. In some
countries, humanitarian appeals have only received four percent of the
amount needed for 2001, the UN said.
 
Abidjan, 13 July 2001; 19:10 GMT


[IRIN-WA: Tel: +225 22-40-4440; Fax (Admin): +225 22-40-4435; Fax
(Editorial Desk): +225-22-41-9339; e-mail: irin-wa@irin.ci]


[This item is delivered in the "africa-english" service of the UN's IRIN
humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views
of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or to
change your keywords, contact e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org or Web:
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post
this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Reposting by
commercial sites requires written IRIN permission.]

Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2001
 

distributed by
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Center for International Disaster Information
Volunteers in Technical Assistance
                                          web: www.cidi.org
                                     listserv: www.cidi.org/listsub.htm
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
West Africa                      www.cidi.org/humanitarian/irin/wafrica