HIGHLIGHTS
- EC allocates €15.6 million for humanitarian funding
Liberia to get €15.6 million from ECHO for humanitarian action
The European Commission announced on 29 December 2007 that it has earmarked €369.6 million for humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable victims of humanitarian crises around the globe. Of this amount, Liberia is to be allocated €15.6 million (US$ 23.1 million) to support the transition from relief to development in 2008 and consolidate the achievements of 2007. The sectors to be funded are health, water, sanitation and hygiene, and food security/livelihood. Funds will be channelled through partners of the European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO), who include international NGOs, UN agencies and ICRC.
This funding will help address some of the remaining humanitarian needs outlined in the 2007 Common Humanitarian Action Plan (CHAP) for Liberia. To date, the CHAP has raised US$ 68.1 million - or 62% of total requirements.
Update on outbreak of acute watery diarrhoea in Maryland County
The reported outbreak of acute watery diarrhoea in Maryland County (southeast Liberia), which health authorities have been addressing since early December 2007 appears to be waning. The number of reported cases and admissions at the main referral hospital in Harper City is declining, and laboratory test results have so far not confirmed any case of cholera.
Health authorities have listed poor sanitation/hygiene and inadequate safe drinking water sources as some of the factors responsible for the outbreak. The UN, NGOs and ICRC are supporting the County Health Team to address the situation. Some of the measures instituted include case management, awareness and sensitization, chlorination of water points and households and clean-up campaigns.
Sweden supports school feeding in Liberia
WFP announced that the Government of Sweden has contributed US$ 3.1 million to its school feeding programme in Liberia. Another contribution of US$ 700,000 was provided by the Netherlands. According to WFP, the Swedish contribution came about from a request made by the President of Liberia during her visit to Sweden in November 2007. WFP and the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) are the largest distributor of food aid in Liberia. WFP runs an Emergency School Feeding Programme with a Girls Take Home Ration component, intended to encourage girls' school enrolment.
Recently, WFP estimated that the total value of potential productivity losses resulting from malnutrition (i.e. stunting, anaemia and iodine deficiency) from present to 2015 would amount to US$ 431 million. The estimate was made using PROFILES - a computer-based programme for estimating the far-reaching consequences of malnutrition.
Refugee return
During the reporting period, 116 Liberian refugees returned from camps in Guinea and Ghana. These returnees are part of the residual caseload of refugees who had registered for voluntary repatriation but whose return was delayed due to schooling in their countries of asylum. UNHCR says the latest movements brought to 111,777, the number of registered Liberian refugees assisted to return since the exercise commenced in October 2004.