Humanitarian needs

An humanitarian team that carried out an assessment on 9 June of villages between Masiaka and Rogberi Junction, noted that while the situation there had not reached crisis level, it had the potential to deteriorate rapidly. Rogberi is some 20 km north of Masiaka, which is around 60 km east of Freetown. Intermittent fighting over the previous five months in the area had resulted in the destruction of property, deaths and human rights abuses. The team found that food was scarce and most people were surviving on cassava and mangoes, according to its report, compiled by the UN Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Unit (HACU). Rebels had destroyed much of the previous year’s supply of seeds so farmers were unable to plant, while many of the some 10,000 people in the villages relied on traditional medicines and, to a lesser extent, medicine bought from Freetown, HACU said. The assessment team included representatives from the United Nations, the Sierra Leone Government, the Sierra Leone Red Cross and international NGOs. It found that a large influx of displaced persons had caused severe overcrowding - up to 50 people living in the same house. There was a “considerable” risk of waterborne diseases due to inadequate water and sanitation facilities, it said, adding that many schools had been closed. Of particular concern for the assessment mission were the security risks associated with the presence of rebels living around some of the villages who were short of food. According to the report, an arrangement had been made with ECOMOG for small groups of unarmed rebels to be allowed into the villages to buy food. However, villages without ECOMOG checkpoints were visited almost daily by rebels and villagers were forced to sell or give them food or personal possessions. In some areas, the proximity of the rebels to the villages has reduced the amount of land available for planting, HACU said. The mission recommended that although there was a clear need to provide humanitarian assistance to civilians, it needed to be balanced against the risk that relief supplies could be seized by nearby rebel forces. As a result humanitarian interventions needed to be weighted in favour of “health, water and sanitation and longer-term food security programmes that are less likely to cause problems for the beneficiaries,” according to HACU. Specifically, the report recommended an immediate distribution of seeds and tools to enable those farmers who have prepared their land to begin planting. Farmers stated that if seed was available, they would plant cassava, okra, cucumber and rice. The team also recommended further assessments of the area by medical, water and sanitation specialists to determine the best way to intervene in these sectors. Urgent attention should also be given to the issue of food for rebel forces which “is probably the most relevant (problem) for the continuing ceasefire”, HACU said.