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LIBERIA: Recognise country's needs, NGOs urge international community
International non-governmental organisations (INGOs) have called on the international community "to recognise that there is an ongoing crisis in Liberia and the need for continued support to INGOs in emergency, reconstruction, and development activities".
The "downturn in humanitarian aid for development and reconstruction in Liberia is having a serious and negative impact on the most vulnerable elements of the county's population," said the 17 INGOs, which included Action Contre La Faim (ACF), Action Aid, Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) and American Refugee Counsel (ARC).
A recent upsurge of fighting between pro- and anti-government forces in the northern Liberian county of Lofa "has demanded a new emergency response", according to the statement, also signed by Children's Aid Direct (CAD), Concern, Handicap International, International Rescue Committee (IRC), Lutheran World Federation/World Service (LWF/WS) and Merlin.
The other signatories of the document, dated 30 August and titled 'Situational Report of INGO's Operative in Liberia' were Movimiento por la Paz el Desarme y la Libertad (MPDL), Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)-Belgium, Oxfam, Save the Children's Fund (SCF/UK), United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), Veterinaires Sans Frontieres (VSF) and World Vision (WV).
The number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) registered since March 2001 amounts to 35,137, while another 12,000 Liberians were registered by UNHCR in eastern Sierra Leone and 4,563 in Cote d'Ivoire, the INGOs said. They added that IDPs were continuing to move through Gbarpolu County, immediately south of Lofa.
According to the statement, donor support to INGOs in Liberia has greatly reduced since January 2000. "This has directly affected the support INGOs provide to the vulnerable people of Liberia," they said. "INGOs are scaling down their reconstruction and development programmes due to funding constraints."
The INGOs said that "in the immediate term the non-food needs of the IDPs are largely being met" but that "the majority of intervening agencies will not have sufficient resources to maintain current programming in either reconstruction/development or emergency response beyond December 31st 2001".
They therefore called on international donors "to reassess their respective positions with regard to humanitarian assistance in Liberia, both in development and emergency response".
"Human suffering is on the increase," they said.
COTE D'IVOIRE: WHO appeals for US $2.9 million against yellow fever
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that it was launching an urgent appeal for US $2.9 million to fight "a potentially disastrous outbreak of yellow fever in Abidjan", Côte d'Ivoire.
The money is to be used for an immunisation campaign that requires some three million doses of vaccine. WHO said it was preparing to deliver vaccines from an international stockpile to Abidjan "as soon as possible". It said rapid action was essential to buy vaccine stocks and deliver them quickly to Cote d'Ivoire "to prevent this worrying outbreak from becoming a humanitarian disaster".
There have been 20 suspected cases of yellow fever in Abidjan - including four deaths - and six have been confirmed. Suspected cases have also been reported elsewhere in the country, according to WHO, which said "indications are that the real situation could be considerably more serious than the number of cases officially suggests".
Yellow Fever, a mosquito-borne disease, can spread extremely rapidly in densely populated urban areas, causing thousands of deaths. Symptoms begin to appear after an incubation period of three to seven days.
WHO said that following confirmation of the first cases in Abidjan, the Ivorian government had appealed to it for help in mobilising international funds to provide financial and technical aid. A WHO rapid assessment team is in Abidjan, working with the Ministry of Public Health to formulate a response to the outbreak.
GHANA: Red Cross provides aid to flood victims
Red Cross volunteers in Ghana's Upper East Region have donated their entire emergency stock of 40 blankets to flood victims in the town of Bolatanga, the society's national coordinator for disaster relief and preparedness, Sullay Sumani, told IRIN on Wednesday.
"That's all they had," he said.
A Red Cross assessment team left for the town on Wednesday to determine the number of people needing help, property damage and the amount of aid required.
The flooding, which began on Monday after a four-hour downpour, was caused mainly by poor drainage and buildings erected in waterways, the state-owned 'Daily Graphic' reported. The fire service, police and officials of the National Disaster Management Organisation rescued frightened residents from their rooftops. Sumani said emergency teams of Red Cross teams volunteers provided first aid.
SIERRA LEONE: Red Cross aids needy in Kenema
Sierra Leone Red Cross volunteers have begun distributing non-food items to groups, institutions and organisations in the southeastern town of Kenema, the state-owned news agency, SLENA, reported on Monday.
The Red Cross's relief officer, Constant Kargbo, said the assistance was being provided with support from the International Committee of the Red Cross to enable viable groups and institutions to care for themselves. He said the Red Cross helped 6,528 people in July and 2,463 in August, distributing blankets, mats, plastic sheeting, buckets, kitchen utensils and used clothing.
SIERRA LEONE: Combatants required to disarm in groups of at least 10
Under new rules of disarmament, Sierra Leonean combatants will be required to disarm in groups of 10 or more, and no longer individually, Sierra Leone Web reported.
Under the regulations, published by the National Committee for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration, at least two-thirds of the fighters in each group must turn in weapons, Sierra Leone Web added. Groups that attempt to hand over ammunition alone will not be accepted.
After disarmament has been declared completed in a district, persons still holding weapons or ammunition will have one week to hand them in or be subject to prosecution, it reported, citing the NCDDR statement.
Disarmament is now taking place in Koinadugu District, in the north of the country, and in Moyamba in the southwest. The UN Mission in Sierra Leone, which is overseeing the process at reception centres, said 17,242 combatants had disarmed between January, when the exercise started, and 4 September.
NIGERIA: Government plans to help flood victims
Plans have been concluded to provide emergency assistance to people displaced in the past week by floods in northern Nigeria, the head of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said on Wednesday.
Dozens of people were reported dead while thousands were displaced in floods that swept through Kano State and neighbouring Jigawa after water released from two swollen dams caused the rivers Kano and Hadejia to overflow. Large swathes of farmland and scores of villages were flooded.
"We have gone out there to assess the situation and we are in the process of providing assistance to the victims," NEMA Director-General Remi Olowu told IRIN. She said NEMA had so far counted 15,000 displaced people in Kano while figures for Jigawa State and the overall death toll were still being collated.
Nigerian Red Cross spokesperson Abiodun Orebiyi told IRIN: "Our latest report shows over 48,000 people displaced, but we have recorded only 20 deaths." He said new updates were still being expected from Red Cross field officers.
Residents and other local sources in the areas worst hit by the floods had said that up to 100 people may have died.
Orebiyi said the Red Cross had provided emergency assistance to flood victims in Kano and was assessing emergency needs in Jigawa. He said many of the displaced were poorly sheltered in school buildings or market places. There were fears, he added, that they could contract diseases such as malaria, pneumonia and cholera due to a combination of mosquitoes, cold and dirty water.
NIGERIA: OPC faction to stop vigilante activity
A hardline faction of the Lagos-based Oodua People's Congress (OPC) has announced that it will halt all its vigilante activities following the arrest of its leader, Ganiyu Adams, media organisations reported.
Adams' faction had become notorious for carrying out extrajudicial killings and executing suspected criminals in the Lagos area. The group had been banned since November 1999 after inciting ethnic riots in which hundreds died. Ganiyu was declared wanted and, after months on the run, he was arrested on 22 August and charged with 23 counts of murder, robbery and illegal possession of arms.
The OPC purports to defend the interests of the Yoruba people, one of Nigeria's main ethnic groups.
NIGER: Anti-malaria campaign launched
Niger's government has launched a national campaign aimed at reducing the incidence and impact of malaria in the country, PANA quoted acting Health Minister Ari Ibrahim as saying at the launch on Monday. There are on average 850,000 reported malaria cases per year in Niger, and this causes an annual deficit of 15 billion CFA (US $20.2 million), including US $8.1 million lost to absences and US $12.1 million spent on treatment, PANA quoted Ibrahim as saying.
The campaign focuses mainly on encouraging people to keep homes, streets and public places clean and to sleep under impregnated mosquito nets. The minister also urged the public to report to hospitals and health centres as soon as they began to experience malaria symptoms, PANA reported. The campaign is part of 'Roll Back Malaria', a multisectoral initiative launched in 1998 by the World Health Organization to eliminate the disease.
CHAD-CAMEROON: WHO says 116 have died from cholera
The World Health Organization (WHO) says 113 people died of cholera in southwest Chad up to 4 September. They were among 3,557 reported cases registered since the disease broke out in June. The Chadian Ministry of Health, WHO and Medecins sans Frontieres are monitoring the outbreak. In neighbouring Cameroon, 158 cases have been reported, three of them fatal, WHO said.
Abidjan, 5 September 2001; 17:42 GMT
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