Press Release AFR/705 IHA/797

United Nations   Nations Unies

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs [OCHA]

LIBERIA: BETTER ACCESSIN LIBERIAREVEALS ACUTE HUMANIATARIANAINNEEDS

(New York:      NEW YORK, 18 September 2003) --   As- As humanitarian agencies gain better access to areas outside Monrovia, they are finding that humanitarian conditions are acute.  AUnited NationsUN inter-agency assessementassessment mission found that there weare urgent needsfor food, water, water containers and plastic sheeting in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) around Totota.  In Tubmanburg, high levels of malnutrition and an urgent need for therapeutic feeding were found.

      An assessment mission comprising comprised of the United NationsUNWorld Food Programme (WFP), the United StatesS Agency for International Development, and the Lutheran World Foundation travelled to Totota on Tuesday.  They found that ir observations indicated that about 90 per cent% of IDPsinternally displaced personsIDPshave now returned to previously established IDP camps with pressing needs for of food, water, sanitation, and  facilities particularly non-food items.    The WFP will start distributing food on Friday, 19 September, with the assistance of the Lutheran World FoundationLWF/S and with other implementing partners. Meanwhile Catholic Relief Servicess will continueds its food distribution to IDPsinternally displaced personsIDPsin Buchanan on Thursday. Planning has started for similar assessment missions in Gbartala and Gbarnga, pending a field security assessment whichassessment, whichwill take place this week.

      A The results of a rrapid nutrition screening conducted by WHOthe World Health Organization (WHO),  United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), , UNICEF, World Vision, and the Ministry of Health in Tubmanburg, Bomi County, from 8- to 9 September, revealed high levels of malnutrition.  About 243 boys and 260 girls were screened.   The findings showed that about 6.5 per cent% had severe acute malnutrition, 4.1 per cent% had oedema and 16.5 per cent% had global acute malnutrition.   The group has recommended general food distribution to the vulnerable families.   They called for urgently neededfor   therapeutic feeding to cater for cases of severe acute malnutrition and provision offor supplementary feeding to children suffering from moderate acute malnutrition, including children below six6 months and pregnant/lactating mothers.

      Security remains an impediment to humanitarian operations.   There have been reported incidents reported around the Kru Junction area. , and Reports of skirmishes in Ganta,in   Nimba Countyhave been also received.

      United NationsUNagencies are able to work effectively outside MonroviMonrovia as security and logistics allow. On 13 September, the WHO, in collaboration with UNICEF withand the Ministry of Health have ended the mass immunization campaign for measles in the three Ccounties of Bomi, Gbarpolu and Grand Cape Mount counties.  Over About 13,000340 children between the ages of six6 months and 15 years were vaccinated against measles, and overmore than5,,364000 hadreceived doses of   vitaminsdoses.

* *** *  RELIEF-SHIPBOUND FOR SOUTHERN LIBERIASHELLING IN BURUNDI TAKES TOLL AMONG CIVILIANS

(Martin I MajuroBujumbura: 1210 SeptemberJuly 2003)  The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) relief-ship,Martin I Majuro, steamed out of Monroviaharbourthis afternoon (13:00GMT) bound for the smallcoastal town of Harper, some 236nautical miles south of the Liberiancapital, Monrovia.

On board,an inter-agency United Nations and international non-governmental organisation (NGO) missionis poisedtodock and enter Harper, rebel-held(MOFDEL forces)territory.  The mission members, experts in humanitarian relief operations, logistics and security,will assess the humanitarian conditionson the ground, and the capacity of Harper port,and airfield,to facilitate future aid deliveries.

Harper is one of five regional hubs the United Nations has identified,and will during the course of the days ahead,spread the international net of assistance to Liberia’s most vulnerable.

“Reaching those populations in the interior is key, whilst at the same timepreparing these smaller communities for the eventual return of thousands of IDPs and refugees presently concentrated in and around the capital, and neighbouring countries”, said Mr Daniel Augstburger, Mission Leader.

It is the first time the United Nations willvisit Harper since June, afterMODEL forcestook control of the town, forcing humanitarian operations to an abrupthalt.

On-handat the Port for thedeparture,the WFP Country Director, Mr Justin Bagirishya, declared this mission an important first step in expanding the graspof humanitarian assistance nationwide.  “Inroads are being made.  For the first time we are reaching out to the most vulnerableand offering them tangible prospectsfor stability,and a return to some sense of normalcy after years of war and poverty”.

Fighting between rebels and government forces in Burundi's capital, Bujumbura,has killed up to twenty civilians, injured as many as 100 and displaced some 5,000 more since Monday.

Clashes between the Palipehutu-FNL (Agathon Rwasa) and the Armed Forces of Burundi (FAB) erupted in the southern neighborhoodsof Bujumbura on Monday morning.  Mortar rounds that exploded in densely populated locations within Bujumbura, including the main Market Place, the Central Bank of Burundi and Prince Louis Rwagasore Hospital, have killed at least two civilians.  According to the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Burundi, Mr.Sunil Saigal, no accurate figure exists for the total number of civilian injuries or deaths.  “As many as 200 people have been admitted to the numerous hospitals and clinics run by national authorities and international non-governmental organizations”, said Mr.Saigal.

Civilians in Bujumbura report that both the rebels and military have actively encouraged civilians to flee the conflict areas.  An estimated 2,000 displaced people, mostly women and children have been temporarily located in the grounds of the Burundi Life Museum (Musée Vivant).

They have received high-protein biscuits from UNICEF, water from the International Committee for the Red Cross, and medical support from the NGO Medecins Sans Frontiers.  Another group of roughly 3,000 IDPs have reportedly sought shelter at a secondary school run by Catholic priests in Bujumbura's Kanyosha neighborhood.  The condition of the group in Kanyosha, however, is unknown because security conditions do not permit humanitarian workers to reach those areas.  The plight of unaccompanied children and separated families remains a core concern.

The spread of fighting into Bujumbura punctuates a marked deterioration of security in Burundi.  Now, 16 of Burundi's 17 provinces are subjected to sporadic fighting, looting and armed banditry.  At this time last year, only six of the country's 17 provinces were subject to frequent conflict, while the other 11 were open to and in need of rehabilitation and development.

“The impact of continued fighting on civilians and social infrastructure is devastating,”said Mr.Saigal. In addition to the 281,000 Burundians living in formal camps for the internally displaced, an estimated 100,000 Burundians are temporarily displaced each month, frequently forced to flee their homes as their neighborhoodserupt into fighting, leaving their livelihoodsbehind.  Almost one in six Burundians continues to live away from their homes.

According to the UN's Human Development Index, Burundi is the third poorest country in the world.  Since the outbreak of the conflict in Burundi in 1993, the hostilities have claimed the lives of an estimated 300,000 people, the vast majority of whom were civilians.

The President, Domitien Ndayizeye, is in Europe for meetings aimed at stirring up international support for this tiny war-stricken nation.  To date, only $XX18.X2 million, ---just XX26.X4 per cent of the funds required under the United Nations 2003 Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for LiberiaBurundi--have been pledged.

For further information, please call NicholasMcGowan, +377 47 530 433257 951 681 (OCHA BujumburaLiberia); Stephanie Bunker +212 917 367 5126 63 1143 (OCHA NY), Elizabeth Byrs +41 22 917 2653 (OCHA Geneva)..  Bureau de la Coordination des Affaires Humanitaires

Regional Support Office for West Africa  - Bureau Regional d’Appui pour l’Afrique de l’Ouest

PRESS RELEASE

US 15.9 million can avert a massive humanitarian crisis in Cote d’Ivoire and the sub-region

UN agencies and other humanitarian actors, estimate that about 3.9 million persons need assistance and support in terms of shelter, water and sanitation, food, health, education and protection IN Côte d'Ivoire AND THE SUB-REGION during the next three months.

On 21 November 2002, humanitarian agencies in Abidjan, Cote d’ Ivoire launched a Flash Appeal to mobilize US$ 15.9 million to cover from November 2002 to January 2003, the immediate pressing humanitarian needs and to avert a large-scale humanitarian crisis in Côte d’Ivoire and three priority (neighbouring?) countries, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana.

Within Côte d’ Ivoire, just about US$ 7 million are being sought to provide humanitarian assistance to for over 3.4 million beneficiaries targeted for humanitarian assistance out of a total population of 15.3 million people (about 20% of the totaloverall population). In Burkina Faso US$ 1.1 million is needed for some 143,600 vulnerable people,  being targeted, while in Ghana just over US$ 819,500 is needed for about 187,000 people. In addition, US$ 818,800 is being sought for about 95,000 evacuees, transiting populations, asylum seekers and host communities targeted for assistance in Mali. A total of US$ 6 million is needed for relevant regional response capacities.  (This is confusing.  How does it add up to the 15.9 million above?)

The working scenario for this flash appealassumesthat a  remains a military stalemate will prevail, with the insurgents holding part of the north, while the Government controls the southern portion of the country. national territory. With an interposition force to be deployed shortly as part of within the context of the peace settlement process initiated by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), humanitarian organizations are closely monitoring developments and the strain the current crisis is placing on the Ivorian society. This will enable relief organizations to ensure that their operations remain relevant and efficient for those made destitute, homeless or otherwise vulnerable. The number of status quo is expected to exacerbate existing vulnerabilities and multiply the number of people requiring some sort of relief assistance during the next 90 daysis expected to increase. .

[Nature of problem:  IDPs, economic disruption, etc.  Then—what the aid community has done so far.  “In the past weeks the aid community in CDI has”…done what to gear up?  Set up new presence in Yamoussoukro, etc….]

The ability of the humanitarian community including national and international actors to address current emergency needs and more importantly to target relief aid so as to avert a massive humanitarian crisis depends on the swift and equitable allocation of resources for the interventions outlined in the appeal and for other initiatives undertaken to complement efforts included in this Inter-Agency Appeal. This sub-regional crisis, stemming from the situation in c

Cote d’iIvoire,represents a unique opportunity for for the implementation of the concept of cconflict prevention as part of an integral component of an integrated response to a humanitarian emergency that has the potential to for become ing a regional humanitarian tragedy of unmanageable proportions.

For further information please contact:

Mrs. Besida Tonwe

Head of OCHA Regional Support Office for West Africa

Tel: (225) 22405170

Cell phone: (225) 07013663

Ms. Rosa Malango

Humanitarian Affairs Officer, OCHA Regional Support Office for West Africa

Tel: (225) 22405171

Cell phone: (225) 07013664