Liberia: Liberia Humanitarian Situation Update No. 78

19-24 December 2003
General Situation

I. IDPs

The relocation from the irregular shelter SKD that commenced on 19 December, ended 20 December, totaling the number of relocated IDPs to the six regular IDP camps in Montserrado County to 3,779. The exercise was prompted by strong protection concerns, especially with regards to sexual violence against women. Concerned agencies are putting efforts into upgrading the facilities at the reception camps to meet the needs of the newly arrived IDPs. WFP started its food distribution as of 22 December, which continued on 23 December. This will enable all the relocated IDPs to be fed before Christmas as according to plan. The SKD Stadium is now completely emptied. The National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL) has plans to rehabilitate it.

The next relocation priorities are the Ministry of Internal Affairs, hosting around 40 IDPs and the Masonic Temple, hosting about 2,000 IDPs. Other irregular sites for which relocation is planned are Kendija (1,000), Old Executive Mansion (400) and Oxygen Factory (275).

The IDP Committee met on 23 December. Decisions were taken to task its members with various assignments/responsibilities, not to lose momentum in the on-going relocation exercise, in light of the somewhat slowdown in humanitarian activity and personnel during the holiday season. Steps were also taken in relation to the up-coming assessment missions of so-called spontaneous settlements, possibly sprung up as a result of the large focus of the humanitarian community on IDPs, notwithstanding the many urban poor people. In this regard, efforts are also underway to further assess the vulnerability of the non-IDP community, with WFP, UNDP and OCHA making consultants available for this purpose. These efforts will build on previous vulnerability assessments, including, in particular, the inter-agency Vulnerability Assessment undertaken in Monrovia in August 2003.

II. Protection

Efforts are underway within the specific protection fora (Child Protection, Sexual and Gender Based Violence, Open Forum) in order to further define its roles and responsibilities and how they relate and feed into the work of the Core Protection Group, being the overall strategy and policy setting protection coordination forum.

In an effort to prevent violations in the IDP Camps, initiatives have been generated to improve camp management structures. In this connection the process of registration will be reviewed to identify strengths and weaknesses.

Activities are underway within the Core Protection Group with a view to support orientation/training programmes on protection and a human rights/protection trainers network.

Humanitarian activities by sector

1. Food aid

The following food distributions for IDPs and Refugees were conducted during the period 16 - 19 December.

Discharge of the MV "TRAVOS" continued 20 December with a total of 383 Mt of maize meal being offloaded from the vessel.

2. Water and Sanitation

UNICEF has supported the Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) with nine hand-washing facilities and three additional hand pumps at the Jah Tondo IDP Camp, while two other hand-washing facilities were constructed at the Wilson IDP Camp.

3. Health and Nutrition

UNICEF has procured an assortment of EPI (Expanded Programme on Immunization) supplies, including a cold room, cold boxes, icebox freezers and related materials, intended for rehabilitation and strengthening of the national cold chain system, in preparation for the implementation of a full scale EPI campaign in 2004.

4. Protection

UNHCR in collaboration with LRRRC continued from 13-19 December with the process of selecting members of the Community Watch Teams for the various refugee camps. A training workshop on basic refugee law and camp security for members of the teams was conducted.

Child Protection

The UNHCR Child Protection Team carried out awareness-raising sessions for six blocks in Samukati Town refugee camp on child rights and child protection during repatriation.

Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV)

UNHCR undertook counseling on gender-based violence for three women and awareness-raising efforts among men at VOA refugee camp.

In the course of the week covering 13-19 December, UNHCR facilitated the voluntary repatriation of 25 Sierra Leonean refugees and the resettlement of three refugees to the Netherlands and one to Sweden.

UNICEF has signed five new Project Cooperatin Agreements (PCAs) with various NGO partners for support to reintegration activities under the ongoing DDRR programme. The projects total USD 838,178 are expected to benefit about 900 persons, including child soldiers and teenage mothers.

5. Education

UNICEF has concluded agreements with ten local NGOs and signed MOUs with three NTGL partners, with the aim to improve facilities at 223 schools in Bong, Grand Bassa, Margibi and Montserrado Counties, as part of the Back to School Programme. A total of 89,200 children are expected to benefit from the facilities.

Common Services

6. Humanitarian Information Centre (HIC)

New products:

• Information about the Liberian population (based on the national immunization data provided by UNICEF).
  
  
• Districts of origin of IDPs and refugees (based on data provided by WFP and UNHCR).

For details go to: www.humanitarianinfo.org/liberia

7. humanitarian operations centre (hoc)

General:
Internal procedure development. Support to Inter Agency Communications.
Project. Released Humanitarian Activity/Operation Procedure.

C/M Coord:
CIMIC Meeting to co-ordinate use of UNMIL military assets.

Logistics & Movement Coordination:
Ongoing co-ordination for airport moves during the week. Support to SKD IDP
re-location. Support to NGOs with minor logistics support. Support to Evacuation
Planning by Asset identification. Support to development of JLC exit
strategy and handover to OCHA.
For more information see www.unjlc.org/liberia

NGO Liaison:
Continued outreach and development of Liberian NGO 'presence' in conjunction with HIC.

LRRRC/NTGL:

Commenced discussions on role and responsibilities of this position with LRRRC Executive Director.

Humanitarian Information:
HIC updated HOC products and information.

For more information see www.humanitarianinfo.org/liberia

Security: (CIMIC Update dated 22 December 2003)
The security situation improved significantly this week. With the continuation, and the suspension on 17 December, of the DDRR process, the flow of ex-combatants was normalized somewhat, and the payment of $75 to each ex-combatant was also streamlined and increased. By the end of the week, all registered ex-combatants had been paid. Some 1000 remained in the DDRR camp. Areas outside Monrovia also remained relatively calm, with some criminal activities reported in Buchanan as well as Tubmanburg, where civilians are still harassed on a regular basis by fighters.

For additional information contact

Rosemary Musumba, Public information Officer/Spokesperson. OCHA Liberia + (377 47) 53 00 48, Email: rosemary.musumba@undp.org

Hugo Karlsson, Reporting Officer, OCHA Liberia + (377 47) 53 01 97, Email: hugo.karlsson@undp.org